The twins — chapter 35

— Lizbeth, my beautiful Lizbeth. Just when I thought I couldn't love you any more, you give me this gift. Wiping away his tears, he walked over to his wife's bed.

— Aren't you angry that I'm pregnant so soon into our marriage? Elizabeth asked, looking at the floor.

Nathan looked at her, and only now did he realize that she was afraid because of the length of their marriage, or rather, the short time. He knew that many men didn't like that and always wanted to wait years to be able to enjoy their married life with their wives, but he loved his wife and his children, all his children.

— Oh, my Lizbeth, he said, hugging his wife. What are you talking about, my love? You're all I love most in this life with Alien and our little Jack and now our babies.

— Babies? Nathan, did you say babies in the plural?

— Yes, my love, Carson has just told me that there are two of them, we have two beautiful babies, our little ones, our family is growing.

He told her about everything Carson had said, about the risk of the three of them dying if she couldn't feed, nourish and hydrate them properly, and that she needed to make an effort to do this as they needed her body to react too, that the city would protect and take care of her, that everyone already knew and was making plans to help them; she with her eyes full of love, caressing her belly, told her children that mommy and daddy would protect them.

Two months passed quickly, Rosemary had a baby girl called Anne Elizabeth Coulter, in honor of her godmother Elizabeth. Lee was the smile of a lifetime, his face hurt from smiling so much, but he couldn't help it, these two women were everything in Lee's life. Nathan couldn't imagine what he would feel when he saw his children. Alien, now almost thirteen, loved Elizabeth like a mother and couldn't wait to meet his two new brothers. Jack Junior was still very young, but he always talked to his mother's belly and his brothers. The pregnancy flowed so well that no one would have known about those horrible days. The whole town came together to look after Elizabeth over the last two months, as well as family, close friends, Carson and Faith, all the students and their parents, and Edward always took time off to look after and pamper Elizabeth. Edward's parents now lived with their son in the neighboring town, which meant that they also came to see Elizabeth all the time. She was the link that reminded them most of Hamilton and Philip, and they came to love her like a daughter.

One afternoon, sitting on the bench in front of the police station, Nathan and Bill were chatting when Lee, Frankison and Wynn arrived and stayed there. After a while they noticed that in the distance Elizabeth was walking alone with a basket in her hand and Alien with another basket, they were coming from school, that's when Frankison stood up saying he would help them, but Bill grabbed his arm and told him to stay there and watch. Not even two minutes later, they saw Opall and Emily appear. And with every step Elizabeth took, another child or adult appeared, all of whom took turns carrying the baskets. Elizabeth chatted with everyone, when they passed in front of the police station she looked at Nathan and smiled and said to everyone:

— Good afternoon gentlemen.

Nathan gave his crooked smile, which made Elizabeth's heart beat faster, and all the other men shook his hat. That's when Mr. Tony, an old man who lived in the woods, with no children at school, and a very grumpy face, came up to her from the market, saying, "But Mrs. Elizabeth, as you said the other day...

— Well, let's go to my house, I think perhaps someone could join me for refreshments and I'll tell you the rest of the story.

— Of course, said many voices, we even brought cookies. Our mothers said that babies have to eat a lot and that if they see other children eating, they'll get hungry and you'll have to eat, teacher.

— That's right Opal. So let's get on with it...

And so that group of about twelve adults and twenty-eight children were all following Elizabeth and laughing. Bill looked at Frankison and explained that this happened every day, always like this... Everyone wanted to be with her, wanted her attention and from what I saw Nathan even Alien seems to have lost his shyness and now looks at Elizabeth with admiration.

Wynn broke into laughter. You know, Bill. She's always been like that. She attracts people like a bee to honey. Ever since she was a child, she has only increased her power to love others. And you Nathan, from what I can see, are falling more and more in love with my daughter every day. And I'm sorry, Bill, about our daughter. But I'm telling you Nathan, wait until those babies arrive, I think you'll meet an Elizabeth mother who will impress you.

Nathan knew that Wynn was right, because Elizabeth was a great mother to Alien and what she did to protect little Jack was impressive, and the lengths she went to in order to look after the twins during this risky pregnancy showed him that she was the best mother in the world.