"Jack," she touched his arm with her free one, "why don't you step out of the room if it's going to make you queasy." She gave him a sympathetic smile as she held John there only in his diaper while he waited for his first round of vaccines. Jack hated this; she could see it, and it was sweet that a man who had no issues with farm animals and all of the medical needs they had, couldn't stand to watch his own son get shots.
"Ahh, Lise," he sighed, "I just hate watching either of you in agony. You having to get that epidural about killed me, and I just hate seeing he's so happy," he gestured to John, "and we're about to make him miserable."
"Jack," she chuckled, from her seat, holding John, "please, it's fine. Go on out to the truck. We'll be out. You were here for his appointment and saw he's doing great. 60% percentile for weight is good with his being early, and 40% for height. Hopefully, he got your genes there and not mine and will eventually be taller."
He sighed again and looked at John, who loved to smile. He nodded to her, and gestured to the door, "I'll go start the truck, warm it up. Actually," he smiled at her, "I'll get both of us a cup of coffee at Maggie's if you want."
"Sounds good," she told him. "I could use that since I'm really not hungry for lunch after that big breakfast. I'll finish here, and oh," she pointed at him, "I'm going to stop next door at the pharmacy to pick up my prescriptions. I've been meaning to do that."
"You sure?"
"Yes," she nodded. "I'll get him the infant meds they said he could have with his shots."
"Okay," he leaned down to kiss her and sighed as he ran his hand over John's chest, "Sorry, John. It's for your own good."
Jack left, and Lisa couldn't stop chuckling to herself at Jack. Most wouldn't believe that soft side of him, but it was something she absolutely loved about him. Not many saw it. People thought Jack was mysterious with all of these walls up. He was just private, but the few people he let in, well, he let in and never stopped caring.
Within minutes, John was set, unhappy, but set, and Lisa had redressed him and was on her way. She put his paperwork in her purse, and with his infant seat in hand, she walked next door to the pharmacy. Lisa had been meaning to run a lot of these errands, but life had been very busy the last two weeks since returning from France, not that she was complaining. She was incredibly happy, minus the tension and family issues at the ranch, and she was looking forward to getting into a new routine now that she was home, married, with a baby, and a career to juggle.
As she waited in line to pick up her prescriptions, she tried to soothe John. He was rubbing at his eyes, best an infant could do, and she could tell he was cranky. The doctor suggested some infant Tylenol to soothe him and perhaps get him a couple hours of sleep. She was definitely going to get that here too. She hadn't been paying much attention to anything, other than the speed of the line, until she heard her least favorite person, well, maybe second only to Dan, take the spot behind her in line.
"Well, if it isn't Lisa Stillman and that baby boy," Val called out from behind her in line. Lisa, facing forward, closed her eyes, made a face, and took a deep breath before turning to Val.
"Val," she nodded simply, giving her a polite smile, hoping to stay out of any trouble with her.
"I thought I heard you were in France for the winter," Val told her. "I thought you'd taken that baby away from his home."
She plastered on her best fake smile and shrugged, "No, just normal work travel. I'm obviously back home," she gestured to the ground. "You know I'm back and forth to France quite a bit."
"Oh, I do," she nodded with a smirk. "I'm very aware when you are gone, everyone around here is. Spent time with Jack the other day for his birthday, but you might not have remembered his big day or even been back from France yet. Now," she continued with her fake-looking smile, "how is that baby? He's getting bigger."
"Fine," she nodded, trying to just keep the peace still and not address the topic of Jack's birthday. She really wanted to tell her she could stuff that wine she'd given to Jack, that she had thrown it in the trash, but she stayed on a lighter topic. "Just had his first round of shots, so I'm sure he'll be a little fussy today, but nothing I can't handle."
"Well, I just hope for whatever little time you are here, you let Jack spend time with that baby, I mean, since he's taken responsibility for him and all," she continued that smiling at Lisa, but Lisa was thankfully saved by the call of the pharmacist. She turned and stepped up to deal with her prescriptions, putting John's car seat on the floor while she did. She could feel Val's eyes burning a hole in the back of her head, and she wanted anything, just anything to put her in her place. From the conversation, it was obvious that Val had no idea she and Jack were married, most people didn't, but she wasn't sure how to casually let that come up either. She pondered that while she waited for her medications. After all of the ways Val had verbally tortured Lisa over the years, she needed something that would pack a punch, and truthfully, she wanted to see Val's reaction and not just let Val hear it somewhere else in town.
As the pharmacist bagged her prescriptions, she had a devious idea, something she'd never do, well, except now to Val. She knew it was probably really childish, but oh, that woman got under her skin like no other. Just thinking back over the years, Jack had been so clueless to not even realize Val had tried to swoop in and hit on him constantly any time she'd had to go to France. Thankfully, he wasn't the least bit interested in Val, but even now, as Lisa had just witnessed, the woman was vile and definitely hated Lisa. She hated Lisa because Lisa had everything she wanted, the better stable, the better operation, a lot more money, the international accolades, and most importantly, Jack, even though, right now, Val didn't realize Lisa was now legally married to Jack, but she knew this woman had more jealous bones in her body than anyone she'd ever met. So, Lisa was ready to strike and strike in a way she hoped worked and was subtle, at least appearing subtle. After the pharmacist gave her the meds she needed, she checked the bag. Yes, both scripts were there. Blood pressure meds, which she was sure she'd have to keep taking after her next appointment. That didn't seem to be budging right now, but to be fair, things were a bit stressful. Her other script, which was going to help give her just a little satisfaction with Val now, and she knew Jack would kill her if he had any idea she was thinking up this plan, kill her because it was about to put personal matters in the spotlight, and he hated that, but she needed to try and set this up just right. She glanced at it, her birth control, and then glanced down at the reason for it there on the floor in his car seat, squirming and starting to fuss. She never thought she'd need this after all these years, but life was full of surprises, and while John was the best one, she didn't need more. If her aim was just right-well, it was worth a shot, and she could almost picture the look on Val's face if she could pull this off. Lisa moved things around in the bag and thanked the pharmacist before bending down to pick up John in his seat. She restrained from letting out a low groan from the pain she still felt from the horseback ride. She grabbed the bag from the bottom, on purpose, and as she turned, she almost flung the one script out of the bag, looking like she was incredibly clumsy. She had a grip on the blood pressure meds because well, everyone seemed to need those, and they wouldn't draw the reaction the other would. She almost squealed in delight as her plan couldn't have gone any better. The box flew out of the bag and landed right on the floor in front of Val. Val would definitely have to hand it back or step over it to get to the counter next.
Lisa knew she looked like the biggest klutz, who had way too much going on, way too many things in her hand, and then a baby on top of that. She put her excitement to the side to play her part.
"Oh, gosh, Val, I am so sorry," Lisa sighed, reaching for her script, but Val had already started to help.
"Lisa, you really should have left that baby with Jack to spend time with him while you run your errands," she scolded her and started to laugh at Lisa who did look like a mess. Val picked up the box, and Lisa knowing Val was Val-nosy and always looking for something to pick at, glanced at the box, and Lisa had to hide a huge smile as she saw the color drain from Val's face.
"Val, thank you, I'm so sorry and so embarrassed," she sighed, hooking John's seat on her arm and opening the bag to retrieve the script and put it back into the bag. She gave Val a sympathetic smile as she reached for the script. "Definitely don't want to lose that one. Thank you for getting that, clumsy me."
"Ahh," Val shook her head, Lisa was sure the script was making Val sick to her stomach, and she held it there, almost speechless for Lisa. Lisa offered her another smile and made sure to reach for it just the right way, just so that the light coming through the windows hit the diamond on her hand to sparkle in just the lighting. Lisa retrieved the script, making sure she patted Val's hand for the help, and she gave her another smile. Lisa knew the moment the realization set in, and Val had seen her wedding ring. "Oh, ahh, Lisa," she sputtered, her eyes wide now, and her face a very pasty white. She looked down, and Lisa followed her gaze, knowing full well what they were looking at. She glanced up to see Val's eyes almost popping out of her head.
"Oh, you may not have heard yet, but Jack and I got married last month," she smiled brightly and emphasized, "in France. I guess word doesn't travel as fast as I thought in this town. Anyways, thanks for picking up this," she said, dropping into the bag, "and, oh," she gave her a fake smile, "I made sure Jack's birthday was great. Bye now."
Before she even reached the door, Lisa realized she'd forgotten John's medicine, and she felt terrible about it, vowing to have Jack stop at the grocery store to get it next. She left the building, spying Jack in the truck, sipping on his coffee. She walked over, and he hopped out to help with John.
He eyed her suspiciously, and he gave a shake of the head, "What's got you grinning?"
"Oh, just ran into Val," she smiled even more, and she heard him groan as he put John into the truck. She walked around to her door and climbed in, and when Jack got in, he looked over to see she was still smiling.
"Dare I even ask?" Jack asked. "The smile is unnerving where Val is concerned, but I suppose you weren't arrested so it can't be too bad."
She shook her head, "Let's just say Val knows we're married, and for once, I got a little enjoyment torturing her. Can we leave it at that?"
Jack just studied her, trying to attain if she was really going to just leave it at that. Finally, he closed his eyes and chuckled, putting the truck into reverse, "Must have been good, happy you had it out with her finally. You've never smiled like regarding anything with Val. Should I expect her to come whining to me and relive the scenario?"
"Nope," Lisa said, smacking her lips together and grinning at Jack. "Let's just say that she knows, but there's no way she'll want to relive or retell our little meet and greet. That made my day, wiping that smug grin off her face," she flashed a wide smile, and Jack just groaned. "We need to get John some meds somewhere else because Val is still in there, but after that, let's start working on the fishing cabin and kitchen plans. Wow, aside from John's misery, this day is going to be quite enjoyable."
