Chapter 43
Jack went to check on Lisa when Lou said that dinner was almost ready and he hadn't heard anything from his wife yet. When he entered the bedroom, Lisa was awake, but she looked like she hadn't been for long. She looked up when Jack opened the door. He closed it behind him and walked over and sat on the bed. "Hey, Lis. Did you have a good nap?"
"Yeah, I just woke up a couple of minutes ago. I think I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow." Lisa reached out for Jack's hand and held it in hers.
"Well, dinner is almost ready, so you might want to get up and freshen up a bit. Not that I think you look bad. I just know you. You look beautiful to me no matter what." Jack bent down and kissed Lisa on the cheek.
"Okay, you're right. I don't want to look like a mess when we tell them our news. Although I don't think they'll be that surprised." Lisa got up and looked in the mirror. "Oh my. I look like a mess. I need to go to the bathroom where I can wet my hair down and restyle it so that I can make it look, well, make it look not so crazy."
Jack walked over to Lisa and pulled her into his arms. "I still say you look beautiful like this, but I understand that you want to fix your hair a bit. I'm looking forward to being able to do this whenever I want." He kissed Lisa and held her tightly in his arms. "I love you."
"What day is it?" asked Lisa jokingly.
"No idea," Jack deadpanned.
Lisa stepped away from Jack and said, "Okay, I need to go fix my hair now before I forget what I'm doing and just stay in here kissing you."
"I'd never complain about that." Jack smirked at Lisa as she walked away. He was so happy with how things had turned out, and he was looking forward to telling everyone that they were back together.
As they sat down for dinner, Lisa felt a little nervous. She wasn't sure why, so she did her best to ignore it. She looked around the table at the family and wondered what people would have to say. Would they be surprised, or would they think they knew it all along? She hoped that they would be happy for them and give them the privacy to figure out their relationship further.
While they were eating, Lisa realized she had forgotten to ask about Georgie. "Did Georgie's flight leave on time?"
Lou nodded. "It did. I think she was having mixed feelings about going back to Florida. She was excited to see Phoenix and Quinn, but re-entry after you've been away from each other for so long can be hard. Peter and I have certainly struggled with that. I think we've gotten better at it, but it's much harder when you're not used to it."
"Georgie talked to me about her nervousness a little bit yesterday morning. She has a good head on her shoulders, and I bet that she'll be just fine," said Lisa. She almost said something about having to figure that out soon as well but caught herself.
Once everyone had finished up their food, Jack looked over at Lisa and whispered, "Ready?"
Lisa nodded. She wasn't sure that she really was ready, but she also knew that it needed to happen. She put her hand on Jack's arm and squeezed it before bringing it back to her lap.
Jack looked around the table and said, "I wanted to talk to you all about something."
Everyone looked up and looked at Jack curiously, except for Peter, who looked pleased. Even though he knew what was coming, he played along and asked, "What do you need to tell us?"
Lisa had been looking at Jack along with everyone else, but Peter's question made her turn around. She gave him a pointed look, but Peter didn't respond at all. She looked back at Jack.
"So, on Friday, Lisa and I got back together." Jack took hold of Lisa's hand and held it tightly.
Everyone looked pleased, but not entirely surprised. "I kind of thought you were already back together, Grandpa," said Lou.
"I kind of did too," admitted Amy.
Lisa shook her head. "No, we weren't. We were working towards it, but I didn't figure out that I love Jack until Wednesday night. I was going to wait until today, but I got impatient and told him Friday afternoon. We didn't say anything until now because we didn't want to take any attention from Georgie."
"It's true," said Peter.
Lou looked at Peter, confused. "Wait. How do you know about this?"
"Uh, I kind of busted them kissing in the kitchen on Friday when I got in from Vancouver. I promised not to say anything, and I wanted to keep my promise. Lisa is the reason we met in the first place and have those two beautiful girls." Peter put his arm around Lou. "I wanted to tell you, but I also wanted to keep my word. Plus, I agreed that Georgie should get the attention before she left."
"I did tell Georgie on Saturday morning," said LIsa. "Peter encouraged us to tell her before she left. I was fine with that. We were both up super early yesterday, so it was the perfect time to talk."
Katie got up from her chair and came around to hug her GGs. "I'm so happy for you two. I was hoping this would happen."
Lisa was touched by Katie's excitement. "Thanks, honey."
After Katie sat back down, she asked, "How did you get back together?"
Jack and Lisa looked at each other. Neither one of them knew how to answer it. Finally, Lisa said, "We just want to keep it between us. It was a special moment, but that's just for us."
Katie nodded. "Okay. I was just curious, but I understand."
Tim had been sitting at the end of the table, not saying anything. "So, you finally got her back, old man. How'd you do it?"
Jack rolled his eyes at his ex son in law. "I was there for Lisa and was patient with her while she figured things out. I didn't make her feel like she had to fall in love with me again. It wasn't always easy, but I'm glad that I did things the way that I did because it all worked out in the end. I have Lisa with me again and I couldn't be happier about it. We all know how miserable I am without her in my life."
Lisa smiled at Jack and then turned to address the family. "It really did help that he kept the pressure off of me. There were times when I was freaking out about everything, but Jack would talk me down in his quiet, calm way. How could I do anything but fall in love with him all over again. When I woke up in the hospital, I couldn't imagine being in a relationship with anyone ever again. I was okay with being alone, but now I can't imagine not being with Jack."
Jack leaned over and pulled Lisa in for a quick but sweet kiss. "I love you."
"I love you too." Lisa blushed, knowing that they had an audience.
"Get a room, you two!" said Tim sarcastically.
"You know that I can kick you out, right?" asked Jack.
"Dad, stop bugging Grandpa," said Lou. "You kiss Jessica all the time. Grandpa and Lisa have always been way more appropriate than you."
"Let's talk about something else," insisted Jack.
Lisa stood up. "Let's have some pie." She was also ready to have the focus off of them and talk about something else.
The change of topic got everyone talking about other things. Lisa passed out plates with pie and ice cream to everyone and then sat back down in her seat.
After dessert, once everyone helped clean up after dinner, they all went their own way. Katie and Lyndy were getting ready for their last week of school before the summer break started. Lou and Peter wanted to spend some time together before Peter had to fly back to Vancouver in the morning, Amy went out to the barn to do night check, and Tim and Jessica went back to the barn loft.
Jack and Lisa stood in the kitchen looking at one another. Jack walked over to where Lisa was standing and had been drying dishes. "How about we go to bed early?"
Lisa wrapped her arms around Jack's neck and looked up at him. "That sounds good to me. I hope that you are okay with mostly just sleeping. I'm still exhausted, and I have a lot going on at work this week. I need to get caught up on sleep."
Jack put his hands on Lisa's waist and shrugged. "Any time I get to spend with you is fine by me. I'll admit that I'm pretty tired, too. I would be happy lying down in bed with you in my arms. That's enough for me. Well, I'd also maybe add some kissing to that.
"That sounds perfect. Let's get ready for bed, and then we just spend some quality time together." Lisa kissed Jack. She then stepped away to go brush her teeth, but stopped to say, "I like not having to worry that someone will see us do that. It's nice to be out in the open about our relationship."
Jack smiled at Lisa. "I like it too." He walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her. "I love you."
Lisa reached up and kissed Jack. They began to get lost in the kiss until they heard someone clear their throat. Looking over at where the noise came from, they saw Amy standing in the mud room.
Amy rolled her eyes at the two of them. "Listen. I'm so happy that you two are back together, but I don't need to see you making out in the kitchen like a couple of teenagers."
Lisa laughed and rested her forehead on Jack's chest to hide her face. She remembered a conversation she'd had with Amy early on after the accident. Standing up straight, she looked at Amy and shrugged. She didn't know what to say that wouldn't traumatize Amy further.
Amy laughed at Lisa's response. "You can't even argue with me, can you? Remember early on after the accident when we had that conversation while I helped you get cleaned up? It's coming back to me now. I'm going to pretend I didn't think of it because now I'm traumatizing myself."
"What conversation was this?" Jack asked while looking confused.
Lisa patted Jack's chest and said, "Don't worry about it."
"Don't worry about what?"
Jack, Lisa, and Amy looked over to see Lou walk into the kitchen. Lisa groaned because she knew they weren't getting out this easily anymore.
Amy laughed and said, "Grandpa and Lisa were making out in the kitchen when I came in from the barn. I mentioned when Lisa traumatized me back when she first got home from the hospital, and Grandpa didn't know what I was talking about. Lisa told him not to worry about it."
Lou looked at Jack and Lisa and laughed. Amy joined in the laughing, and the two of them ended up doubled over laughing at the situation. Lisa stood next to Jack, chuckling at Amy and Lou's reaction.
Jack still just looked confused, so he said, "I'm going to go brush my teeth and get ready for bed." He went into the bathroom.
After Lou and Amy calmed down, Lou said. "So Grandpa clearly doesn't know about those early conversations. That doesn't mean that I want to know what's going on between the two of you. Please keep that to yourself."
"Oh, don't worry. I won't tell you about our sex life. That's not really something I want to talk about with you anyway." Lisa smirked at Amy and Lou, who looked horrified at even the mention of their grandfather having a sex life and walked off to change into her pajamas. She started laughing as soon as she shut her bedroom door. She knew she shouldn't have mentioned that she had a sex life with their grandfather, but the looks on their faces were too funny to her.
Jack walked into the bedroom and saw Lisa still chuckling to herself. "What's so funny?"
"Oh, it was nothing, really." Lisa chuckled again.
"What did you do? Do I want to know?" Jack looked slightly concerned.
"Oh, it was nothing bad. I'm going to brush my teeth." Lisa kissed Jack on the cheek and left the room.
When Lisa came back to the bedroom, Jack was already in bed. Lisa climbed in on her side and moved so that she could lie in Jack's arms. "This is nice. I like being in your arms like this."
"That's good because I like you being in my arms." Jack tightened his arms around Lisa and pulled her closer. "I love you."
Lisa rested her chin on Jack's chest and looked at him. "I love you too." She laid her head back on Jack's shoulder and wrapped an arm around Jack's middle. She felt so loved, and it helped her to feel safe. Lisa felt like her professional life was still up in the air. She had no idea how her business was going to survive her memory loss, but she knew she always had Jack's arms to retreat into for safety.
Jack kissed Lisa's hair. He was lost in thought about how far they had come since the accident. He was thrilled that Lisa had figured out that she loved him. It was something that he wasn't sure was going to happen despite the fact that they had been affectionate with one another for a while. He felt like Lisa needed to know that he was there for her without pressuring her for anything more than she was ready to give. He was glad that he hadn't given in to the pressure to pursue her. It was clear to him that doing so would have been a mistake. Things happened how they were supposed to happen, and both of them were happy. He couldn't ask for more than that.
"I can feel you thinking. What's on your mind?" Lisa knew Jack well enough to know when he was thinking something over.
"I was just thinking about how far we've come and how happy I am with it. You know, people encouraged me to pursue you, but I didn't feel like it was the right thing. I just wanted to let you know that I love you, and I was always going to be here for you. You didn't need any more pressure on you."
"You're right. I didn't need any more pressure. I needed to figure out that I love you without being pushed. You were great about that. You did flirt with me a lot, but it was nice to know that I'm still desirable to someone."
Jack kissed Lisa's temple. "Oh, you are very desirable."
Lisa laughed. "You're ridiculous."
Jack moved so that he could see Lisa's whole face. He looked into her eyes. "I might be ridiculous, but you bring it out in me. I love you so much, and you're so beautiful."
"I love you too." Lisa kissed Jack. They got caught up in the kiss. Lisa wanted to take it further, but she was also exhausted and knew that they should probably just go to sleep. She needed to be on her game with Georgie being gone.
Jack pulled back from the kiss. "As much as I would like to take this further, I'm tired, and I know you are too. We should probably just try to get some sleep tonight."
Lisa laughed. "I was thinking the same thing. I'm so tired. We got to be together earlier today. Twice in one day might be too much for us at this age. Well, for one of us anyway."
"Hey!" Jack protested. "I'm not that old. Okay, maybe I am. If I wasn't so tired, I would want to prove you wrong. I'm just proving your point, aren't I."
"Maybe a little. It's okay. I'm exhausted, too. Let's just get some sleep, and we can try for twice in one day some other time. Deal?" Lisa grinned at Jack and then kissed him.
"Deal." Jack kissed Lisa and then turned off the lamp next to his bed and got comfortable so he could go to sleep.
Lisa did the same. "I love you."
"I love you too." Jack smiled to himself in the dark. He felt like the luckiest man in the world.
To Be Continued