Chapter 300 – Elizabeth Officially Meets Amber
Jack and Carson walked back over to Frank. He had grabbed a clean basin and poured some water in it.
"Should we go to Elizabeth?" Frank asked.
"No." Carson said. "She is really weak right now and needs to rest. I think that she would understand."
"Okay." Frank said. "Jack, is your wish to have this baby baptized?"
"Yes." Jack said.
"Do you promise to raise this child in the Christian faith?" Frank asked.
"Yes." Jack said.
"What name do you give this child?" Frank asked.
"Amber Rose Thornton." Jack said.
"Hold her head over the basin here." Frank said. "Amber Rose Thornton, I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. May you grow to be as strong as your name."
"Thank you." Jack said.
"I will keep you all in my prayers." Frank said. "I will be outside if there is anything else that you need."
"Thank you, Frank." Carson said. "It could be a late night."
"That is fine." Frank said. "I am needed here."
With that Frank laid a hand on Jack's shoulder, said a quiet prayer, then turned and went back outside without saying anything else.
"I am going to rest upstairs at Faith's." Carson said. "She knows and will get me if needed. You keep an eye on that little girl and thank you for asking me to be there for that."
"You are welcome." Jack said. "Is Elizabeth going to be okay?"
"I think so." Carson said. "Let her rest. As far as I can tell, the other baby is in no hurry to follow his sister."
"You think that the other is a boy?" Jack asked.
"Only a boy would be that stubborn." Carson said.
"You have met my wife." Jack joked.
"Point taken." Carson said. "I am so used to using him until I know otherwise."
"I wouldn't mind a little boy." Jack said. "Although another daughter sounds good as well."
"Relax and watch that little one." Carson said. "I will be back later."
Carson left to head up to Faith's to get a little rest, it was close to six-thirty when Carson went up the backstairs. Faith decided to pick up and clean the office a little to get ready for what was still to come. Jack was back to holding little Amber against his chest. He was so in love with his daughter and was enjoying holding her close. Amber seemed to snuggle right into Jack, like her mother. Jack knew that they were going to have to wake Elizabeth and try to get Amber to eat. Elizabeth had pretty much fallen asleep as soon as Amber was born, she hadn't even officially seen her or heard her name.
As Jack was sitting there holding his daughter watching his wife sleep, suddenly Amber let out a mewling sound he hadn't heard.
"Faith." Jack called.
"Yes." Faith said coming to the doorway.
"I think there is something wrong with Amber." Jack said.
Faith came over and took a peek under the blanket. She heard the mewling sound.
"I think she is hungry." Faith said. "Let's see if we can get Elizabeth up and try to nurse. I know that she needs her rest and that she was weak right after Amber was born, but it is important that Amber is able to nurse otherwise we will have to figure something else out. But with how small she is, breast milk will be best."
Faith went over to Elizabeth and tried to wake her.
"Jack." Elizabeth said softly.
"Right here, Bella." Jack said. "I need you to sit up. Your daughter is hungry."
"What?" Elizabeth asked.
"Here hand the baby to me." Faith said. "Then try to sit her up. Maybe get behind her like you did earlier."
Jack handed Amber to Faith and went to get Elizabeth sat up. He didn't button up his shirt and Faith blushed and had to look away for a moment when she saw his defined muscles on his chest again. She took a deep breath to regain her composure. No man had ever done that to Faith, and of course it had to be a married man that did that to her. She couldn't help that she had been attracted to Jack from the first moment that she had seen him back in January. Jack was able to get Elizabeth sat up and leaning against him. She was still pretty groggy.
"Faith." Jack said. "Turn around for a moment. I know how to wake her up."
Faith turned around and focused her attention on Amber. She knew that Jack didn't want to embarrass her or Elizabeth. Jack leaned over Elizabeth and started to kiss her. The moment that she started to kiss back, he pulled back.
"Hey sleepyhead." Jack said.
"Hey." Elizabeth said weakly. "What is going on?"
"Don't you remember going into labor?" Jack asked.
"It is starting to come back to me." Elizabeth said. "Is the baby okay?"
"Yes and she is hungry." Jack said. "Faith."
Faith turned around.
"Elizabeth." Faith said. "Please meet your daughter, Amber Rose."
"I knew you would know her name." Elizabeth said to Jack while taking the baby from Faith.
"I can help you get started." Faith said. "Then I will give you some family time."
Faith was able to get Amber to latch on. It took a couple of tries, but she started to get the hang of it. Jack was helping to hold Amber for Elizabeth.
"I will just be in the other room." Faith said. "Call if you need anything."
Elizabeth looked at Amber and then up at Jack, she was happy. Tired and sore, but happy. Suddenly she got a really concerned look on her face. She looked back at Jack and he could see fear in her eyes.
"What is wrong?" Jack asked.
"I remember Carson being here and something about twins." Elizabeth said. "But we only have one baby."
"Yes, Carson was here." Jack said. "He is upstairs at Faith's getting some sleep. Yes, he said there are twins. You have only delivered one so far. We can have Faith check and see your progress on the other baby after Amber eats."
"She is so tiny." Elizabeth said.
"That she is." Jack said. "She was just over three pounds and arrived just about three hours ago. Before you ask, yes Abigail has seen her and Pastor Frank came in and baptized her."
"So how did you come up with the name?" Elizabeth asked.
"Is it okay I gave her a name?" Jack asked.
"More than okay." Elizabeth said. "I was just curious how you came up with the name. Amber wasn't even on the lists that we made."
"I was talking to Carson." Jack said. "I asked why he quit being a doctor for a time. He told me that he lost his wife. I asked her name and he told me that it was Amber. He then asked me what the little one's name was and I just knew that it was meant to be Amber. I know that we had talked about using Rose as a middle name and it just fit."
"I love it." Elizabeth said. "It is perfect for her. She wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Carson, so I can't think of a better way to honor him and his late wife."
"I couldn't agree more." Jack said.
When it appeared that Amber was done eating, Jack helped Elizabeth move her up to her shoulder to burp her. Amber let out a little burp and then snuggled into Elizabeth and went back to sleep. Jack reached over and covered them with the blanket. He then put his hand over Elizabeth's holding Amber. He had suddenly become very protective of both of his girls.
"Carson said that it was very important to keep her warm." Jack said. "That was why Abigail was here. She brought hot water bottles. Also we didn't know if you had bottles at the house, so Carson wired Union City hospital and had bottles and formula sent. I told them to have a rider bring them by order of the Mounties. They should be here later tonight. It sounds like he got them on the train and then a rider will be dispatched."
"I wanted to breastfeed." Elizabeth said with tears.
"Carson said that it common with twins." Jack said. "I am sure that you will be able to breastfeed, but we need to be ready if they need more than that."
"I guess." Elizabeth said softly, crying.
"Faith." Jack called.
"Yes." Faith said coming into the room.
"Can you check Elizabeth." Jack said. "She was asking about the other baby. Then I would like you to take Amber. Elizabeth is upset."
"What is wrong?" Faith asked, sitting on the bed.
"I mentioned something about bottles and formula and she got upset." Jack said.
"Elizabeth." Faith said. "It is not uncommon for twins to need a little more support so having bottles and formula ready only makes sense. I am not saying that you can't breastfeed, but don't you want to be ready in case we need."
"I guess." Elizabeth said sniffling.
"Okay." Faith said. "Now let me check you. To start, I am going to see if baby number two has dropped down and then I want to see if you are still dilated."
Elizabeth leaned back into Jack and Faith felt around her stomach. It looked like the baby dropped. Then Faith checked to see how dilated Elizabeth was.
"Good news, bad news." Faith said.
"What is the bad news?" Jack asked.
"The bad news." Faith said. "The cervix closed back to about three centimeters. Not uncommon with twins. Especially when the second baby wasn't ready to come. Good news the second baby has turned and now appears to be head down. As long as your second water hasn't broken we are going to let nature take its course. I think that we should have a second baby within a day."
"That long." Elizabeth cried.
"Faith." Jack said. "Take Amber, I have got Elizabeth."
Faith took Amber and wrapped her up well and took her to the other room. Jack wrapped his arms around Elizabeth and pulled her back into him. He then put his hands on her stomach.
"Heavenly Father." Jack prayed. "We come with grateful hearts. We thank you for our daughter and we ask that You bless this other little one. Please give Elizabeth rest and strength to deliver this other little blessing. Please give Carson and Faith wisdom to know what to do. Please give all of us patients to do things on your time. Continue to watch over Amber, she is tiny but fierce like her mother. We ask this all in your name, Amen."
"Amen." Elizabeth said. "Thank you. I needed that."
"You just rest against me." Jack said. "I will stay here and hold you. Faith and Carson can take care of Amber."
"I am sorry about all of this." Elizabeth said.
"Elizabeth Grace Thornton." Jack said sternly. "You have nothing to be sorry about. I love you and you have given me the greatest gift ever – two children. I get that it is not easy right now. You have crazy hormones and you have a right to be upset. This is not how you planned things. I know that you wanted to give birth at home. But it is better that we are here, right now."
"Thank you again." Elizabeth said.
"Oh." Jack said. "I sent a wire to Wynn. Don't worry it was a coded message and he will understand. I am sure Aunt Elizabeth and/or Wynn will be on their way here soon to help. I know that they promised to come and help. Other than that, no one else knows about the twins. Unless Abigail or Frank have said something."
"I am sure that they haven't said anything." Elizabeth said. "Thank you for staying with me. We don't have to decide right now, but should the twins have the same godparents or be different. I think we name the same guardian."
"We can talk about that later." Jack said. "But I think that you are right about the guardian. We talked about that because of Little Beth and Sarah."
"Did you send the wire about the girls coming?" Elizabeth asked.
"First thing this morning when I got back from rounds." Jack said. "There has been no response, but they will all probably come together now."
"After the wedding." Elizabeth said. "Viola is going to be mad I upstaged her again."
"She will just have to deal." Jack said. "Now, lay back and relax as much as you can."
Jack started humming a song and rubbed Elizabeth's stomach. It wasn't long and he knew that she was asleep. She hadn't completely relaxed against him, but her breathing had evened out. Jack closed his eyes and decided to rest a bit as well. He knew that Amber would be safe with Faith and Carson.