AN: This is the last little piece to this one. (No worries, there are more stories for these two, but this is the end of this little "moment.") I hope you have enjoyed, and I hope you enjoy the last piece!
If you do enjoy, please do consider leaving a review or comment to let me know!
111
"Apple juice for the littlest lady," Seth said, as he came in the door of the cabin. "And I went ahead and picked up some assorted danishes for breakfast, Jess. We can stop somewhere for an early lunch, if this doesn't hold her over long. I also picked up a few snacks for the road. I think I hit most of her favorites as of late."
Jessica dropped the pillowcase full of their linens next to the pile of things she'd packed for him to put in the truck. He'd taken the vehicle to pick up snacks, mostly because he hadn't wanted to fight with her about whether or not she should load everything. If he'd walked into town, he was certain that she would have loaded everything in his absence, no matter what he said. This way, he had at least known that the most she could do was prepare everything to be loaded.
She smiled at him.
He held the apple juice bottle out in her direction—what she'd been craving since the night before—and she walked over to meet him as he put the bag he was carrying, loaded with everything else that he'd bought, down on the counter.
"Am I allowed to tell you how thoughtful you are?" She asked, still teasing him from his blow-up halfway through their vacation.
He pulled her to him and she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him before she offered him a sweet kiss that, when she tried to break it, he moved toward her to request that it be prolonged just a little longer. He heard her laugh in her throat, in response, as she moved into him to indulge him.
"I love you," he said, practically as a knee-jerk response, when the kiss broke.
"I love you," she echoed, without hesitation.
"And you better tell me how thoughtful I am," Seth said. "Read that bottle, Woman. That's not just everyday apple juice. That's the cider one. Nothing but the best for our girl."
"Oh! Seth!" Jessica said. "That's exactly what she wanted."
"Ayuh, I know it is. Went to two places to find it, so you can go ahead and sing my praises."
She laughed. The teasing was teasing, but it was tinged with truth. Seth was old enough to know that forgiveness was one thing, but forgetting was another entirely. Jessica forgave him for his outburst, but she couldn't forget how it made her feel. She also couldn't forget that he'd felt the way he had. It would take time, he knew, for both of them to get past it, and for Jessica to feel comfortable, again, being as openly excited as it appeared that she genuinely was.
This was a wonderful, exciting, novel time in their lives, and she was drinking deep the proverbial nectar of life. Seth was, too, even though he found it a bit hard to believe that he—imperfect as he was and had always been—deserved everything wonderful that he had right now, and everything that seemed to be coming to him in the future.
He wasn't apologizing anymore. Jessica didn't want that. Still, he recognized that her jokes—while teasing and full of fun—were also full of a bit of her own insecurity. He also recognized that he'd created that insecurity. He would do whatever he could to slowly encourage her to be as open as she had been before.
Her happiness, after all, was truly his happiness—especially now that he'd learned, albeit the hard way, that she truly meant it.
"You're really wonderful to both of us, Seth," Jessica said sincerely.
Seth was surprised at the fact that it made his chest feel a touch tight. He cleared his throat.
"What's left to pack up here?" He asked, making sure that he didn't leave her room to say anything else that might cause him to lose the hold he had on his emotions.
Jessica looked around. She shook her head.
"As soon as we take this out," she said, letting her words trail off. There was no need to truly finish the statement. They both understood it.
She looked back at him and sighed. She frowned—though not quite dramatically enough that he was searching for tissues or a handkerchief immediately.
"I'd be lying, Seth, if I said that I was ready to go," Jessica said.
The tightening in his chest didn't exactly untangle itself.
"We can stay another night, Jess," Seth said. "Another couple nights, if you want. I'll call Beverly. This place doesn't look too full. I'm sure that we could extend our stay or move to another cabin."
"We have Gillian's party on Thursday," Jessica said. "The one for her niece."
"Ayuh," Seth said. "The one where everyone in Cabot Cove gathers to gossip while Gillian brags about how much money her niece makes doing God knows what in Nevada."
"I think she's in California now, Seth," Jessica said.
"I don't care at all," Seth said, honestly. Still, he laughed a little when his comment struck Jessica just right and she laughed. "Do you really care if we go to that?"
"Not really," Jessica said. "Except—I think she's invited half the town, and it might raise some eyebrows if we don't go."
"Let it raise every eyebrow, for all I care," Seth said.
"Seth…" Jessica said, tipping her head to the side in the way that she always seemed to do when she was giving him a bit of a warning to step outside of a current way that he was feeling. He sighed and shook his head.
"I know," he said. "But—I hate to see you sad, Jess."
"Oh—I'm not really sad," Jessica said, opening the bottle of apple cider in her hand and taking a drink. "At least—not the kind of sad that I can't get over. I guess—it's just been really nice, Seth. I've meant everything I've said. It's been…well…practically like a dream to me. And it's been really nice having this time with you, when it's just us…the Hazlitts," she said with a laugh. The laugh sounded just a bit choked, though, and Seth could tell that she was fighting back emotion.
"I promise, Jess. I'll make sure that I schedule more time to be home," Seth said.
"Even when you're home, you're only partly home," Jessica said. "And, Seth—that's your job. You're a very good doctor, and that's how it's supposed to be. I'm not trying to make you feel guilty. I'm not trying to do anything. I promise." She held her hands up in a gesture of something like mock surrender. "I'm just—missing you, I guess." She laughed to herself. "We haven't even left, yet, and I'm missing you…a little."
"Come here, Jess," he said. He opened his arms to her again, and she came back to him. She sunk into him and hugged him. For a long moment, he stroked her hair. He inhaled the scent of her. He closed his eyes and savored the feeling of her in his arms. He could, very distinctly, feel their daughter pressed between them—not tightly enough, he was sure, to do her any damage—but he could imagine that, maybe, she got some comfort from the embrace.
She surely felt the hormones that her mother was, without a doubt releasing and experiencing as she snuggled into Seth's arms.
Seth kissed Jessica's forehead as she pulled out of the embrace, and he accepted the kiss that she offered him in response. This time, he let her decide how long it lasted, and he was pleased when it took a moment to spiral into a something a bit playful.
"That cider is pretty good, Woman," Seth said, when the kiss broke.
She blushed and laughed.
"It really is," she agreed, half-shrugging. She'd capped the bottle again, but it wouldn't last long. Seth hadn't told her, yet, that there were two other bottles in the brown bag because he'd figured that anything that their daughter had wanted badly enough that she'd had Jessica craving it almost madly since the night before, she'd likely want in something of an abundance.
Seth reached and touched Jessica's face. She closed her eyes a moment, and seemed to savor the feeling of his thumb brushing across her cheek.
"I'm not going to stop being a good doctor, Jess, so you don't have to worry about that," Seth said. "But—I am going to start finding a bit more time to make sure that I have some time to dedicate to only being a good husband…and a good father…too."
"You are," Jessica assured him.
"I hear you, Woman," Seth said. "And you heard me, too. That's the end of it."
She raised her eyebrows at him. He understood her expression. She was trying to decide if she was going to accept his decision to draw something of a line in the sand.
"Let me be the man I need to be, Jess," Seth said, simply. "Please. If it hurts you, then…tell me and I'll stop. Without hesitation. But…if it doesn't hurt you, let me be the man I need to be."
She softened.
He saw it in everything about her. He saw the way her shoulders relaxed, first. He saw her jaw relax. He heard her exhalation of breath, and he saw the soft smile come to her lips as she nodded her head.
"Fine, Seth," she said. "But—I don't want you doing anything you don't want to do. I don't want you hurt, either."
"Understood," Seth said, nodding his head. "We'll come back, Jess. Before she comes."
"With the snow…" Jessica said, half-shaking her head.
"I'll check the weather first," Seth assured her. "And we'll keep a check on everything. But—we'll at least pick a weekend. Stay holed up with the fireplace and a blanket the whole time, if nothing else."
She smiled.
"I'd like that," she said.
"Me, too," Seth said. "But—even if the weather doesn't cooperate, Jess, we'll find some time to stay holed up at 698 Candlewood Lane. Just the three of us."
"I'd like that, too," Jessica said.
"It's settled, then," Seth said. "One way or another, we'll have some time. Now—come on. Let's have some of these danishes." He grabbed the box and gestured toward the small table where they'd played games a few times.
"You want to load the truck first?" Jessica asked.
"We've got plenty of time before check out," Seth said. "Let's just spend a couple more minutes pretending we're on vacation."
She smiled at him.
"You won't hear me complain," Jessica assured him.
She joined him at the table and looked over the selection in the box.
"Take what you want," Seth said, letting her have first pick. "I'm not trying to sway you, but—these have apples, nuts, and cinnamon."
"Ooooh," Jessica said. "That sounds wonderful, Seth."
Seth laughed to himself.
"Ayuh," he said. "I had a hunch it would, Jess."