"It feels so good to be off that plane," Jack sighed loudly as he helped Lisa situate things on the stroller. They'd just arrived back in Calgary, later than even planned after their plane sat on the tarmac for a half hour. It was now just after 8:00 with all of the delays and getting to the gate even in Calgary. She looked up from buckling John into the stroller and pursed her lips.
"You're telling me, and I love to travel, but I'm done," she waved her hands. It hadn't helped that John had a total meltdown on that flight; they were those people. It was bound to happen, and both were just glad it was then and not on the flight from France. Now, though, hours later, John was doing much better and smiling at them as if he was the happiest baby around. Jack gestured to the restroom.
"I'm going to freshen up before we have to ride with Tim," he said, spitting out Tim's name. Lisa laughed, and she grabbed his arm before he walked away, pulling him in next to her. She looked up at him, her eyes sparkling.
"Be nice, please? As I said," she told him in her low, almost sultry voice, "this is why I like to drive to the airport, but," she popped that word out and shrugged, "back to some sort of reality now, and we get a nice ride home with Tim, ehh?"
Jack just chuckled; he was too tired to comment any further. Lisa put her arms on his forearms, leaned up and kissed him, winking after she deepened it and stepped back.
"That will have to last you for the time being," she winked again. Jack sighed, started to walk off, turned, walked back, kissed her again, this time, pulling her so tight they were sure to be making a scene, as he had her halfway bent over backwards.
"That is to last you and to thank you for taking me back," he nodded. With that, he did turn, and Lisa watched him head off to the restroom. With her cheeks rosy, she turned and smiled at John, almost giddy with finally, finally now having Jack. He was her husband, and they were going to figure this all out. Home. They were back in Alberta, and it wouldn't be easy, but they would have to figure it out.
It was almost 10 minutes later before they cleared the security area to head to the baggage claim. Lisa was pushing the stroller, and Jack was carrying the couple bags they had with them.
"What are the chances our luggage actually made it?" Lisa asked, giving him a fake smile.
Jack groaned, "Don't even get me started. I sure hope they did. I don't want to deal with that next."
"Well, if they aren't on the flight, the airline may deliver them later, but I've had that happen before, and often, the airline delivers them when they feel like it, so it might be days. I can always run back down here if they aren't here." They made their way to baggage claim, focused on their bags. If they'd thought they were tired last night after the long day, it was even worse tonight. Jack hadn't said anything specifically, but he was feeling every bit his age. He hadn't slept well at Ben's, just no reason in particular, except the standard-strange place, a lot of noises from the big city, and all, but he had been glad to see Ben and for his hospitality. He was so looking forward to climbing into his own bed.
"Hey, Jack, Lisa," they both heard and turned, seeing Tim coming from the doorway, waving toward them. Lisa had had her head on Jack's arm, and she straightened herself and looked up at Jack before Tim met them.
"Be nice," Lisa muttered. He just grunted, and Lisa turned back to check on John and watch for the bags.
"Tim," Jack said with a nod when Tim walked up. Tim was smiling ear to ear, hoping to get the latest update from Lisa and Jack. Lisa and Jack had discussed things on the plane and wanted to tell the girls together over dinner, and this wasn't the time for that. It was late, they still had a drive to get back to Hudson, and as Jack had told Lisa on the plane, Tim was not one to keep a secret.
"So good to see you, Lisa," Tim grinned, reaching over to hug her. He looked down at John, "There's my man, JT! Wow, he's gotten bigger."
"He has?" Lisa asked, looking at him and back at Tim. "I guess I don't see it yet because it seems so subtle right now. He's still in the same size clothing, but yeah," she nodded, "I also suppose you haven't seen him in awhile." She looked at Jack who was frowning at Tim for his nickname of JT. She frowned at Jack, and he turned to check the baggage carousel.
"No sign of the bags?" Jack asked.
"None," she sighed. She gestured to Tim, "We're wondering if the bags made it after cancelled flights, delays and all."
"Oh, well, they should deliver them," Tim nodded. "I mean, you know that, Lisa. So?" He looked to both of them, all giddy and waiting for the story.
"Your truck outside or did you park?" Jack asked, deflecting any gossip with Tim.
"Parked right outside," he told them. John started to fuss, and Lisa started to push the stroller gently in place, back and forth, back and forth.
"John's had it," Jack nodded. "I'm almost there with him on the travel today." The last of the bags seemed to be out, and the baggage carousel stopped. Lisa bit her lip and closed her eyes, nodding as she looked to Jack. She gestured over to the airline lost baggage area.
"Let's get the paperwork filled out before a line starts," and Jack nodded. They all walked over to the line, Tim following like an excited puppy.
"How was France?" Tim tried a new tactic, still not getting much of a response from them.
Lisa, who with the stroller, had managed to get into the first spot in line, turned and nodded to Tim.
"I got a lot of business dealings done. Bought a couple of horses, and I'm pleased with my purchases."
Tim frowned at that, not getting anything from her, and he looked to Jack. Just gave him a small shrug, but then Lisa, gestured for him to join her at the counter. She had all of the travel documents, and they worked with the agent for a couple of minutes while Tim made faces at John in the stroller. Once they had finished with the agent, they turned and saw Tim was right in his element playing with John.
"He's got about the mindset of an infant," Jack grumbled. Lisa smacked his chest with the paperwork she'd just been given from the agent. They walked up, and Tim looked up, hopeful for them.
"Any luck on your bags?" Tim asked.
Lisa pursed her lips, "Sitting on the tarmac in Toronto, why that is a surprise, I don't know. It shouldn't be this hard to send bags to their final destination."
"At least you are home and don't need anything in them right away, right?" Tim looked to them, and they both nodded. "Well, then, are we headed home?"
"Best words I've heard since we started dealing with the bag mess," Jack started to walk and nodded to the group. "Let's get out of here. Lisa," he turned and saw she had the diaper bag on the stroller, "here," he reached for it. Tim watched, still grinning, "I'll take the bag if you push John." Jack slung the bag over his shoulder and carried the other ones. They walked outside, and the cold Alberta air greeted them, causing all of them to pull their jackets closer.
"Wow, the weather has really turned. I mean, I know we got snow, but the wind is brutal. I'm glad the plane could land," Lisa said, ducking her head to try and avoid the brutally cold wind.
"Truck is right over here," Tim pointed, and they walked just down the walkway to where he had illegally parked. No one cared right now, and Tim had not gotten a ticket.
"Here, Lisa," Tim offered to help with the stroller. "I can put this stroller up for you if you show me what to do."
"Thank you, Tim," she told him. Jack was loading the bags, and she looked to Jack gesturing, "I'll sit in the back with John?"
"Sure," he nodded, and she reached to check John's car seat straps while Tim stood there ready to help.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Tim exclaimed, and both Lisa and Jack stopped what they were doing and looked over at him. His faced turned into a radiant smile, he jumped up and down, and he pointed at Lisa. If she could have turned to look at herself, she would have, but she was holding the stroller in place while bent over it, checking on John. She tilted her head and gave Tim an odd look for his very odd behavior.
"What is it, Tim?" Jack gestured, shaking his head.
Tim, jumping up and down again, pointed to Lisa again, "Those are wedding rings, two rings, ring finger. Are you kidding me?" He looked between the two, pointed at both, and he looked back at Lisa's hand, where she'd snatched it back. Jack groaned and dropped his head there at the side door of the truck, and he gave Lisa a look. She made a face, and as much as she tried not to look at Tim, he was practically jumping in her face.
"Wedding rings, I know what I saw! You two got married? Of course, you did! This is huge! Back together and married. Come on, you two, spill it," Tim grinned, looking back and forth and back and forth between the two. Jack finally broke the silence, gesturing at Lisa.
"You said you were going to take those off."
"I know," she let out a long sigh and grimaced again, looking at Jack and not at Tim. It was as if Tim wasn't there for just a few seconds. "I even thought about it in the bathroom, but I knew you were in a rush to get out of the airport. I washed my hands and just felt rushed. I was worried in the moment I'd drop them."
"I was rushing you? We talked about this, and you said you'd put them away until we told the girls."
"Hello," Tim waved, trying to get the two to look over at him. "Loving the martial spat here," he flashed a huge grin and pointed again to Lisa's hand, "I know what I saw and as well as what I've now heard between you two. You, Lisa," he pointed, are a married woman. Your hand shows, and trust me," he nodded. "Bachelor here, and I'm always looking at rings or for the lack of rings. My eyes did what they are trained to do, and you, Lisa, have on wedding rings-two rings, diamonds, all that jazz, and from the brief glance," he dropped his voice and spoke out of the corner of his mouth to Lisa, "looks like the old man did a decent job with the rings. I'd have to see again for confirmation."
Lisa closed her eyes and sighed, waving her hand in the air in a gesture, but not at Tim, but at Jack. She looked to Jack, "I'm sorry. Let's put a lid on this," she nodded in Tim's direction to indicate they needed to keep him quiet, "and proceed with that plan still if you can handle this." She threw a glare at Tim and turned back to John, snapping his car seat out of the stroller and walking to the backset of Tim's truck with it, ignoring Tim completely. She handed Jack John's seat until she had climbed into the truck, and then he passed her John in his seat to buckle him in. Once that was done, he closed the door for her, after she mouthed 'Sorry' again, and he walked back to deal with the stroller. Tim was just standing there, now casually sitting on the tailgate of the truck, arms crossed. He glanced at Jack and then broke into a wide smile.
"I can't believe this, you old man. You went over there because I kicked your tail to fix things with her, and you came back married. Wow," he whistled and punched at Jack's chest. Jack smacked his hand away and glared at him.
"You are unbelievable, you know that?" Jack said, now frustrated as he tried to collapse the stroller. He was bent over, pushing a button and looked up at Tim, "Why do you have to ruin everything?"
"What did I ruin, Jack? I mean, the purpose of wedding rings is to show them off. Your wife," he flashed a huge grin and wiggled his eyebrows, "is proudly wearing them, so yeah," he nodded, mouth open, I noticed. I notice things. Wait," he pointed at Jack and nodded to him, "did she get you to wear one? Let's see it."
"No!" Jack snapped. "Nothing to see," he flashed his hands. "You need to just forget anything you saw and mind your own business."
"Mind my own business? Jack, we're family. You're my best friend. I've saved your life, and I am the one responsible for this amazing reconciliation. How could you keep me out of the loop?"
"You're not my best friend," Jack pointed at him with a scowl, "not family, not with that EX in front of your son-in-law title. What is wrong with this stroller?" Jack, visibly frustrated, banged at it a few more seconds, and Tim just stood there, grinning at a very annoyed Jack. When Jack finally collapsed the stroller, he turned and almost threw it at Tim's chest.
"I just can't believe this. This is beyond amazing. I mean, we were all taking bets if you two would even be talking to each other. I mean, I asked if she was even traveling with you," Tim fumbled over his words and tried to get Jack to talk.
"You idiot, why did you ask if John was with us? Where would he be?" Jack jumped into that topic, ignoring anything else Tim was asking.
"I just can't get over you married her there. Oh," he winked at Jack, "worried she'd change her mind when you got back home, huh? Or was it that there were all these French guys hanging all over her-had to 'get back your woman' so to speak? Come on, Jack."
"Tim, shut it, right now. I'm not going to stand here at the airport and gossip like we are 12-year-old girls. Lisa and I are both hungry, and it's been a long couple of days. Let's go." At that, Jack, walked to the front of the truck, leaving Tim to properly stow the stroller. Jack slammed the door, and for just a few seconds, he and Lisa had a moment without Tim.
"Sorry," she said, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "I can't believe I did that."
"I'll have Tim keep a lid on it, or he might mysteriously disappear when we are out checking cattle."
Lisa quietly chuckled, and she reached up to pat Jack's shoulder. Tim hopped in the truck at that moment, and he looked between the two and grinned. Lisa pulled back her hand, the same hand in question, now, and she sighed. It was too late for this tonight. She'd put her rings up at home.
"Where to, you lovebirds?" Tim grinned, smacking the steering wheel. "Man, this is amazing. I'm so excited. JT has both Mom and Dad now married. Wow. I can't wait to-"
"You can't wait to anything," Jack turned and pointed at Tim. "You're going to shut it, and I mean it. This is our news, and we're not going to have you ruin it. I don't care if you don't like our timing or our plan with the girls, but I swear if you say anything, you will disappear on the trail. I can hide a body. I certainly hope I don't have to follow through, but I will," he said, glaring at Tim.
Lisa burst out laughing, and Jack turned to her, shaking his head. "It's like destiny. Things were going fine in France, and as soon as we are back on Canadian soil-cancelled flights, delayed flights, lost luggage, and now, Tim, you of all people, found out the big news we wanted to share."
"I won't say anything, but I can't wait until you do," he just grinned. His grin was almost ear to ear, and he couldn't stop looking at them both. "Where to, Mr. and Mrs.?"
Jack groaned and glanced back to Lisa. She waved her hand at Jack and sat back, focusing her attention on John. Jack looked over to Tim who was awaiting instruction. "Just drive," he nudged at Tim. "We haven't had a good meal since breakfast."
"Might that have been some luxury hotel honeymoon suite?" Tim flashed a grin at both again as he started to pull away from the airport.
"Lise," Jack turned to look at her, "are you still wanting some awful fast-food burger?"
"Oh, yes, please," she nodded, a small moan in anticipation of the food. "That actually sounds amazing, just anything like that right now."
Tim looked back at her, "It always amazes me, Lisa, that with all of your money and class, you can still just eat some of the junk the rest of us peasants eat."
"Tim, just leave her alone," Jack groaned. "We're both hungry, and bacon and eggs with Ben was a long time ago."
"Ben?" Tim looked over at Jack.
"Ben, my nephew," Lisa interjected, trying to give Jack a break from Tim's interrogation. "He lives in Toronto now. You remember him, maybe? He was working his horse with Amy right after Marion died. I bought him all the jumps at Heartland."
"Ahh, yes," he nodded. "I remember asking Amy about those, wondering who bought jumps because I knew Jack wouldn't," he chuckled. "I met him at the Fall Finale, I think, right? He was there."
"Yes, he was," Lisa nodded. "He's an investment banker in Toronto, and when our flight was cancelled, and all of the hotels were booked with other stranded travelers, Ben came to our rescue."
Jack glanced to Tim and nodded, "It was nice not to be interrogated by FAMILY last night. I could only hope for the same thing tonight, but no luck," he grunted and frowned at Tim.
"I'm just so excited!" Tim exclaimed. He looked in the rearview mirror at Lisa, "I can't wait to hear all the details and can't tell you what a sorry state your new husband was in before I basically kicked him out the door to the airport. He was just afraid to get on the plane, not to actually come after you."
"Shut it, Tim," Jack grumbled. He pointed to the exit, "There is food here. At this point, I'll eat about anything."
"Same here," Lisa nodded. Jack turned back to talk to her.
"Burger and fries?" Jack asked. Lisa considered it and amended her order.
"Milkshake too. That sounds fantastic right now. You know I'm beyond exhaustion when I want all of that grease, but yes."
"Consider it a wedding gift-I'll buy," Tim flashed a huge smile at the two. He then looked to Jack, "Oh, by the way, the storm knocked out my power. I'm crashing on your couch. I moved out of your room."
"You were staying in my room?" Jack gestured wildly. "Tim, come on!"
"It was just one night," he shrugged. "I had no heat, no power. I didn't want to be cold. Lou, Peter, Georgie, and even Katie were worried about me."
Lisa let a laugh escape, covering her mouth, and Jack turned and met her gaze, shaking his head.
"So, you just are helping yourself to the couch?"
"Well, yeah," Tim shrugged. "Power should be back on for me tomorrow. Not to worry, though. I'm headed to Moosejaw to see Shane tomorrow, since you are finally back. It's about time. I was running everything at the ranch, but I'll give you a pass since you finally took the plunge with Lisa. Oh, and Amy had a frozen water pipe. I am going to fix that in the morning before I head out on my trip, but her water is off, and she's in her room, back in the house too, at least for tonight."
"Tim," Lisa called out to him, and Jack turned to see what she needed, "After we get something to eat, I'd really appreciate it if you would take me back to Fairfield. It's sounds like a completely full house," she said, sighing and glancing to Jack. He gave her a sympathetic smile.
Tim looked between the two and gestured, "Oh, yeah, whatever is the deal now on where the newlyweds will live? I can't wait," he chuckled to himself. Jack continued to look at Lisa, and when he caught her gaze, he nodded to her. "Oh, please, I have to be there when you tell everyone. Maybe I should cancel my trip to Moosejaw."
"You're going to Fairfield?" Jack eyed her. With all of the things going on, the delays in travel, the two hadn't actually discussed what would happen once they were home, what "home" meant initially before all of their plans were put in motion, and for tonight, he knew it sounded like Lisa's worst nightmare at Heartland. He couldn't wait for his own bed; hadn't thought about now not having her in it, but it was hard to argue with the full house back at home. They didn't have baggage with them, Tim had just announced the house basically had a 'No Vacancy' sign, and he knew she was as tired as he was. This was all part of the many things they'd have to sort.
She closed her eyes and nodded, "Peace and quiet, along with all of my things and clothes, John being able to sleep in his crib, yes, Fairfield. We'll see how things look tomorrow."
"We'll sort it tomorrow," Jack said with a nod, meeting her gaze. He gave her a small, sympathetic smile. "Promise."