36. Jack'O

HEADS UP: THIS CHAPTER HAS NO EXACT DATE. IT IS A BUNCH OF MEMORIES/MOMENTS OF JACK THORNTON. HAPPY READING, ENJOY! :)

December 30, 1999, 1:50 a.m. ... "Okay here comes another one." Briar hissed as she held her stomach.

"Okay, the timer started." He took her hand and looked at her, "are you sure it's labor? I mean, they're not due until April."

"Oh yeah, this is it." Then it stopped, "I can't believe I let you trick myself into doing this, 'let's go away for the weekend before the baby comes, it'll be fine.'"

"Well, you should know better than to listen to me."  They kissed and she groaned again.

"There it is again."

"Whoa, already?" She nodded, "okay, I think it's time to go." He said jumping out of bed.

—————

Outside the hotel... Jack came out of the doors holding a hospital bag while holding Jessica and Eric's hands, they were also holding a hospital bag, after all, Briar was expecting quadruplets.

"Okay, don't freak out, don't freak out, don't freak out." Jack kept repeating.

"I'm not freaking out," Briar said.

"I was talking to myself."

"Did you get Jessie and Ricky?"

"Oh, crap the elevator!"

"What!?"

"Nah, I'm just kidding. That never gets old."

Jack left to go get the car, "okay, we're having babies!" He yelled driving away. "Misty, Daniel, Abigail-Isabelle, and Lily."

"Elizabeth, Jack, we're naming her Elizabeth,"

"Okay, I know it's early but, no, her name's Lily."

"Okay, Jack let's not do this right now, we can talk about it after, Misty, Daniel, Abigail-Isabelle, and Elizabeth are born."

"Lily." He coughed. Briar side-eyed him.

Soon, Briar Rose kept getting TERRIBLE headaches and kept blinking her very hard. "You okay Bri?"

"Step on the gas!" Jack did as instructed.

"What's going on?"

"Something's not right. I keep seeing silver sparks and I'm getting HORRIBLE headaches."

"Yeah, I don't think that's normal."

—————

January 10, 2000... Briar Rose had survived a near-death experience with toxemia AKA pre-eclampsia. Each baby had its own medical episode. Misty's heart was not fully developed, Daniel had spinal cord damage as well as respiratory because his lungs didn't fully develop, Elizabeth-Lillian had heart issues, respiratory issues, and digestive issues, while Abigail-Isabelle had neurological issues causing seizures. The doctors presumed that she had a stroke in the womb causing her to not have full control of her body and affect part of her brain.

They were still in the NICU until they were released, but now they were finally able to hold and properly meet their babies. Even Jack's great grandparents, the first Jack and Elizabeth were able to come down to Alabama to see their great-great-grandchildren.

GG Jack was given Daniel, GG Elizabeth was given Elizabeth-Lillian, Abuelo Jack (Josefina's husband) was given Abigail-Isabelle, and Abuelita Josefina was given Misty.

"She's SO precious," Elizabeth said, cooing over her great-great-granddaughter. "She seems so much like Hope when she was born," she said smiling.

"You think she'll be a Marine like her parents?" asked David.

"Kjwejehffwvbiwwbvii! don't go puttin' any ideas in her head!" Yelled Jack.

"Why can't she be a Marine?" asked GG Jack.

"Because! she's my kid! I don't want any of my kids to be a Marine!"

"He's right Jack," said Elizabeth, "she'll be in the Army."

"Jbbbevebvbebgoikvbbeivbier! None of my kids, especially MY daughter, are going to be in the armed forces."

"You know son," GG Jack said, "I said the exact same thing about my daughter Hope. And look what happened, she became the very first female Mountie."

"So what are their names?" asked Elizabeth.

"The one that Ma's holding is Misty," said Jack.

"Abuelo Jack is holding Abigail-Isabelle," said Briar Rose.

"Grandpa's holding Daniel."

"And you're holding Elizabeth-Lillian," Briar said smiling.

"So you guys both won that fight?" Asked Elizabeth.

"I guess, it was Briar's idea to do two names."

"Well that doesn't surprise me, Jack," said David, "you don't have half the brains to come up with that."

"Hey!" Jack, then Briar Rose, David's big sister, smacked him upside the head.

——————

September 3, 2003... Jack was being deployed to Afghanistan and Briar was so busy working and was also on the list to work in Afghanistan as a nurse. So, they had to split up their kids to live with family. Jessie and Eric were sent to live with Briar's Dad. Misty was sent to live with family in LA, while Daniel, Abigail-Isabelle, and Elizabeth-Lillian were sent to live with family in Canada.

Jack and Briar were helping set up one of the guest bedrooms when Elizabeth came in the doorway with a suitcase and her stuffed Bear Sergeant Eckles. "Okay I'm all packed, let's go people!"

"Elizabeth?" asked Briar Rose, going over to her daughter.

"Didn't you hear? We're moving overseas."

"Oh, sweetheart I think you got things a little mixed up, you're not going anywhere, Daddy and I are the ones that are leaving."

"But we're supposed to be a big happy family!" and with that, the three-year-old ran off.

"The kid is really having trouble with this," Briar said looking back at the people in the room.

"Here," Jack said walking over in his uniform, "let me try to explain this to her."

————

In the extra room... Jack walked into the room to find his daughter sitting on her bed with her arms crossed, "Flower, I think it's time we have one of our world-famous talks," he sat down in front of her, "man to munchkin."

"Why are you leaving me!?"

"Flower, I'm not leaving you, it's just that I have a job and I have to go do it, it's kind of a tradition." he said smiling, "listen, I'll be home soon, and I'm working with Uncle David and Uncle Andy. I'm just a thought away."

"Are you still gonna sing me the Red River Valley or Teddy Bear song?"

"No, not every night, but your aunt, uncle, cousins, grandma, and grandpa, they'll sing it for you, they sing—I'll tape it for you."

"I'm gonna miss you," she said getting up and kissed him on the nose.

"I'm gonna miss you too sweetheart, but we gotta put on our bravest faces right now, we gotta be really brave, can you smile for me?" Elizabeth smiled her famous dimpled grin, "that's my girl." he said reflecting her smile, "okay, now that we got this whole brave thing down, I need you to give me the greatest, MOST biggest, MOST gigantic hug in the whole world! Ready? And...GO!" They hugged very tight and Jack held her in the air placing many kisses on her face, and they sat down on the bed. "ah, thata' girl." He said when he noticed a small smile.

"This is a goodbye present," Elizabeth said handing him one of her favorite toys, her bunny rag doll.

"Elizabeth Lillian, it's your bunny, are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Well, in that case, here." he said handing her compass in a leather holder, "He opened it and there was a family picture in it. This compass has been in our family for five generations. Can you keep it safe for me?"

She nodded, and he placed a kiss on her forehead, he went over towards the door then stopped to look at his three-year-old daughter. "Goodbye Flower."

"Goodbye, Daddy."

Jack left the room and leaned against the wall-hugging the bunny allowing a few tears to roll down his cheeks.

So this was supposed to be a long chapter but I really want to finish this section so I decided to make it a chapter with parts. So every once in a while I'll post a Jack flashback section. I used the scene from "Full House" when Uncle Jesse moved out and viewed it as a deployment. Thank you for reading! I DO NOT OWN FULL HOUSE. NO COPYRIGHT INTENDED.

Leaving- https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cty9RiBRwWQ