Chapter 305 – Another Most Worthy Name
Jack and Carson went into the other room. Jack sat on one side of the bed and Carson sat on the other side. Elizabeth was still the way that Jack had left her when he slid from the bed.
"Elizabeth." Carson said, shaking her shoulder a bit.
He got no response, so he shook her a little harder and she moaned in response. Carson just looked at Jack.
"Give me a minute." Jack said.
Jack moved to the bed, leaned over and kissed Elizabeth and again once she started to kiss him back he again pulled away.
"Morning Bella." Jack said. "Carson needs to check on you."
"What?" Elizabeth mumbled.
"Elizabeth." Carson said. "Do you remember what happened yesterday?"
Elizabeth rolled over so she was flat on her back. She winced in pain, then looked around and then between Carson and Jack. She then looked down at her stomach and then panic set into her eyes.
"Elizabeth." Carson said. "What do you remember?"
Elizabeth blinked a couple of times and then looked at Carson.
"I was having pains." Elizabeth said. "They stopped, but then came back when I was coming to town. I came to see Faith because I was worried about the baby. The rest is a little fuzzy. I remember Jack holding me and I think I gave birth."
"Okay." Carson said. "Let's check you out and then we will talk about the rest."
At that Elizabeth started to cry and shake. Jack sat her up and she collapsed into his arms. Carson and Jack just looked at each other. Carson motioned for Jack to talk to her.
"Bella." Jack said. "Look at me and tell me what is wrong."
"The baby is dead isn't it?" Elizabeth cried.
At that, Jack knew that it was Carson's wording that upset Elizabeth. Jack took his hand and cupped her face.
"Elizabeth Thornton." Jack said firmly. "Look at me right now."
Jack waited until Elizabeth calmed down enough to make eye contact with him. When he was satisfied that he had her full attention, he continued talking to her.
"The twins are fine." Jack said.
At that Elizabeth's eyes got huge and Jack just nodded and continued.
"I promise they are just fine." Jack said. "We just made sure they were fed and changed. We have been concerned about you. Now you are going to let Carson check you over and as soon as he is done we will bring the twins for you. Do you understand me? Tell me that you understand."
"I understand." Elizabeth said.
Jack helped Elizabeth lay back down.
"Sorry about that." Carson said. "It was a poor choice of words. Now please tell me how you are feeling."
"Like I have been ripped in half." Elizabeth said.
"Not that far off." Jack joked.
"I will explain everything in a moment." Carson said. "First, I want to listen to your heart and lungs."
Carson pulled his stethoscope out of his pocket and proceeded to listen to Elizabeth's heart and lungs. He then took her blood pressure.
"Blood pressure is a little high." Carson said. "But given everything that you have been through I am not surprised. We will just have to keep an eye on it. Next, I want to feel your stomach and see if your uterus has started to shrink back down. Then I will need to do an internal exam."
Carson moved the sheet enough that he could feel Elizabeth's stomach. He was pleased that the uterus was firming back up like it was supposed to. Carson then stood up and grabbed a glove and then came back over to the bed.
"Elizabeth." Carson said. "I am not going to lie to you. This is probably going to be painful. I will be as quick and gentle as I possibly can. I can always have Faith come in and do it."
"No, go ahead." Elizabeth said.
She drew her knees up and let them fall open. When she moved she realized how sore she was and Jack saw her grimace. He picked up her hand and kissed it. Carson touched Elizabeth and she grimaced again. This time Jack said something.
"Is the pain that bad?" Jack asked. "Carson barely touched you. He can give you something for the pain if it is that bad."
"I didn't realize how sore I was until I moved." Elizabeth said. "I will be okay. I know that he has to, but I don't understand why I am so sore."
"Let me finish here and then I will explain." Carson said. "And yes, pain meds are an option."
Carson carefully finished the internal exam, but not before bringing Elizabeth to tears. He stood discarded the glove and then covered Elizabeth back up before taking a seat.
"Everything is looking good." Carson said. "You are sore and will be for a while. I have already told Jack that you are not to have relations for at least six weeks and then only after you have seen myself or Faith. If it is longer to heal, it is longer to heal. Jack promised that he wouldn't pressure you and would only resume things when you felt comfortable."
Elizabeth and Jack both blushed when Carson was talking. He thought it was cute, but focused on what needed to be done.
"Why am I so sore?" Elizabeth asked. "I helped when Carla gave birth and she was up and walking that afternoon. I don't think I could walk if I tried."
"First of all." Carson said. "From what I understand, it was not Carla's first."
"No." Elizabeth said. "She had a four year old."
"Okay." Carson said. "That is part of it. The other part is that your birth experience was more traumatic. I am not sure how much detail to give you."
"Let me try." Jack said.
"Go ahead." Carson said.
"After Amber was born yesterday evening." Jack said. "Carson and Faith took the baby, while you and I were laying here. I was holding you. You got upset when I mentioned bottle feeding the twins."
"I sort of remember that." Elizabeth said.
"Anyway." Jack said. "Faith wanted you to rest. You wanted me to hold you. I wrapped my arms around you and we prayed. Then you fell into what I can best call a fitful sleep. I didn't realize that you were having contractions. At some point, I realized something was wrong. I got Carson and when he checked you …"
Jack looked up at Carson.
"What?" Elizabeth said.
"I don't know how to explain this." Jack said.
"You and the baby were in distress." Carson said. "We had to act quickly. With the help of Abigail and Jack, Faith and I were able to help you and the baby. We had to give you some ether and then I delivered the baby with manual assistance. I had to pull the baby out quickly to save both of you."
"Bella." Jack said. "I was there and I tried not to watch what they were doing. Trust me when I say you don't need any more details than that. I just thank God that Carson was here to save you and our son. Both Faith and him were amazing."
"Okay I will take your word for it." Elizabeth said. "This won't affect my ability to have more children, will it."
"No it shouldn't." Carson said. "Although, I would suggest that you are careful and try to wait until the twins are a little older. We can talk more about that later."
Again the blush crept across Jack and Elizabeth's cheeks.
"Okay." Elizabeth said. "I would really like to nurse the twins."
"And you can." Carson said. "Tomorrow. Before you get upset, let me explain. As I said, we had to give you ether. That can stay in your body for up to eighteen hours. I am giving it twenty-four to be safe. Both twins had problems right away breathing. I am just being cautious. They are fine now, although your son prefers to be more upright. Apparently, Jack was the same way. If that is the case, we will figure something out. Jack said he would talk to his mother. Both twins are taking the bottle every couple of hours, we had a little trouble getting Amber to take the bottle, but she just took it fine for Jack. We will continue that and then Faith can help you try to nurse tomorrow. You need to understand that the twins still may need to be supplemented with the formula, especially little Amber. She is pretty tiny. Do you understand?"
"Yes." Elizabeth said. "Can I see them now?"
"Jack, why don't you help her get comfortable and Faith and I will bring them in." Carson said.
Carson stood and walked to the door. Jack helped Elizabeth sit up some more and then sat next to her on the bed. Faith and Carson walked in each carrying a tiny bundle.
"Jack, why don't you take Amber." Faith said, handing him the tiny little girl.
"This is Amber Rose." Jack said.
"She is so tiny." Elizabeth said.
"Yes, she is." Carson said. "Just over three pounds, but she has been holding her own. Elizabeth here is your son. He was five pounds even."
"What is his name?" Elizabeth asked.
"We were waiting for you." Jack said. "I picked Amber's name and Carson said he was in no danger so I chose to wait."
Elizabeth leaned over and whispered something to him.
"Whatever you want Bella." Jack said. "I am absolutely fine with that. I think it is a good choice."
"Well then." Elizabeth said. "Everyone. Please meet Andrew Wynn Thornton."
With that Carson wiped his eyes and left the room. Jack was quickly up, he kissed Elizabeth on the head, handed Amber to Faith and followed Carson.
"Are you okay?" Jack asked.
"How did she know?" Carson asked.
"Know what?" Jack asked.
"Carson A Shepard."
"A is for Andrew." Jack said. "Yeah, I don't know. But it might be that or more likely it is after her friend that was killed."
"You didn't have to do that." Carson said.
"Honestly, I didn't realize." Jack said. "She had her heart set on Peter, but when she leaned over, she asked if I was okay with Andrew. I have no idea how or why that came to her, but last night I had a dream and both babies had 'AT' carved on our tree. Don't ask me how she does that, but I am not going to argue with her."
"Then I would be honored." Carson said. "But please don't tell her."
"Then what should I say?" Jack asked.
"Nothing." Carson said. "I will just tell her it was a long night."
"Yeah, like she will buy that." Jack said. "Take a moment. I am sure she did it to honor her friend that was killed. The thing that I didn't tell you about the girls that are coming is that they are biologically related to me. Their father that was killed was my cousin that I never knew about. He was adopted at ten days old and raised no different than the couple's biological children."
Carson looked at Jack with raised eyebrows again.
"Yes, the girls that are coming are the daughters of the late Inspector Andrew Russell, Jr." Jack said. "I didn't know until after he died that we were related. I am actually the one that foiled the kidnapping after his murder. The senior Andrew Russell, felt that Elizabeth and I would raise the girls like his son would have wanted, especially since Elizabeth knew the Russells growing up. We haven't told many people about taking in the girls and eventually adopting them. We didn't know how to explain it. The girls look like they could be ours biologically and that is fine. They will be here next week at some point."
"We will definitely have to talk more." Carson said.
"I am sure that we will have plenty of time." Jack said.
Jack left Carson and headed back to Elizabeth. Jack took Amber back and sat down.
"Everything okay?" Elizabeth asked.
"Yep." Jack said. "Culmination of a long night and little sleep."
Elizabeth just looked at Jack and he knew that she wasn't buying it, but she also wasn't going to push it anymore.
"I will let you have some family time." Faith said. "Jack, if you want to stay here, I can send those wires for you in a little bit."
"Would you please." Jack said.
"Who, where and what?" Faith asked, getting up and grabbing the clipboard.
"Ready?" Jack asked.
"Ready." Faith said.
"Charlotte Thornton. Aberdeen, Saskatchewan." Jack said.
"William and Grace Thatcher. Hamilton, Ontario." Elizabeth said.
"Wynn and Elizabeth Delaney. Hamilton, Ontario." Jack said.
"Andrew and Ingrid Russell. Hamilton, Ontario." Elizabeth said. "Also Henry and Agatha Callander, care of William Thatcher. Hamilton, Ontario."
"And the message?" Faith asked.
"Bella." Jack said. "What do you think?"
"Name and date." Elizabeth said.
Faith wrote something down and showed it to Jack and Elizabeth.
Announcing the arrival of
Amber Rose Thornton
August 30, 4:57pm
Andrew Wynn Thornton
August 31, 3:59am
Everyone safe and well. The Thornton Family
"Perfect." Jack said. "Please have Ned charge my account."
"You know as soon as I send these, it will be all over town." Faith said.
"I am okay with that." Elizabeth said. "I just don't want any visitors right now. Maybe later."
"Okay." Faith said. "I will let you rest and then maybe we can get you cleaned up and have something to eat. Jack, Abigail reminded me to remind you to eat as well."
"We will have breakfast together later." Jack said. "I promise. For now, I want some time with my family."
"And you shall have it." Faith said. "Carson and I will be around if you need anything."
Faith left to send the wires. Jack and Elizabeth snuggled together and marveled at their children.
"Amazing." Jack said.
"I know." Elizabeth said.
"I didn't think I could love someone like I love these two." Jack said. "I have held Amber for quite a bit of time since my body heat has helped her to stay warm."
"You are my human heater." Elizabeth teased.
"Anyway." Jack said. "When I stepped over to get coffee at the jail, I saw someone by one of the buildings. It ended up being McGinty coming into town, but the protectiveness that I instantly felt since I had Amber in my arms even overwhelmed me."
"Aww, Daddy's little girl." Elizabeth said.
Jack didn't say anything, he just reached up and wiped a tear from his eye. He then leaned over an kissed Elizabeth. They stayed there, looking back and forth between their children who slept peacefully in their arms.