The Mountie's Daughter(A When Calls the Heart fanfic)

Chapter 5

Mary Alice woke up one morning. She noticed that the bed was wet and she started crying. She knew why it was wet.

Jack had woken up, hearing the crying.

"Sweetheart, what's wrong?" He asked, concerned. That's when he noticed the bed was soaked.

"Oh, sweetheart." Jack said.

"I'm sorry." Mary Alice signed.

"It's okay, baby." Jack said. "Come on. Let's get you cleaned up."

Jack ran a bath for Mary Alice to clean her up.

After getting her dressed, he washed the sheets and hung them out dry.

"Can you stay here for a minute, please?" Jack asked. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

Mary Alice nodded.

Jack made his way to the saloon where he assumed Elizabeth was probably getting ready for school to start. Like he thought, Elizabeth was getting everything ready for the kids.

"Good morning, Elizabeth." Jack greeted.

"Constable Thornton." Elizabeth returned the greeting. "Is there something I can do for you?"

"I just wanted to let you know that Mary Alice won't be at school today." Jack said.

"Is she ill?" Elizabeth asked.

"Not exactly." Jack replied.

"What do you mean?" Elizabeth asked.

Jack sighed.

"Mary Alice has a bed wetting issue. It used to happen frequently when she younger. But, still happens from time to time. Mainly when she is stressed out." Jack explained. "Everything with attending school, socializing with other kids, and what happened between her and Emily has been overwhelming for her and she had an accident last night. I just thought maybe taking a break from school for a day would be helpful."

"Of course." Elizabeth said. "Tell Mary Alice, I'm sorry she's having a rough time adjusting and if there's I can do to help, please let me know."

"Thanks Elizabeth." Jack said before heading back to the jailhouse.

"Where'd you go?" Mary Alice signed.

"To let Ms. Thatcher know you won't be at school today." Jack replied.

"I'm not going to school today?" Mary Alice signed.

"No. I figured you could use a break today." Jack said. "Come on. Let's go get some breakfast."

"Isn't school starting at the saloon soon?" Mary Alice signed.

"Abigail's opening her cafe this morning." Jack said. "I figured we would eat there this morning."

"Okay." Mary Alice signed. They headed to the cafe.

"Good morning you two." Abigail greeted. "No school today, Mary Alice?"

"She's not feeling very well, so no school for her today." Jack said. "But, we heard you were opening today, so we wanted to come support you."

"That's nice of you guys." Abigail said. "What can I get you two?"

"Mary Alice?" Jack said, letting his daughter order first. Mary Alice drew what she wanted.

"I can see you want pancakes, but it's hard to tell what kind you want." Abigail said.

"If I know my daughter, she wants chocolate chip pancakes." Jack said. "I'll take the same. You can bring a couple for us to share."

"I'm not exactly sure what she wants to drink." Abigail said.

"Milk will be fine." Jack said. "And I'll take some coffee."

"I'll be right back with those." Abigail said.

Mary Alice sighed.

"I know it's frustrating not being able to communicate very well, sweetheart." Jack said. "We're still new here. It's going to take people some time to learn how to communicate with you."

Mary Alice nodded.

A few minutes later, Abigail came over with their food and drinks.

"I threw in some bacon for you guys." She said.

"Thanks, Abigail." Jack said.

"You're welcome." Abigail said. "Enjoy your meals."

Mary Alice separated her pancakes and bacon. Jack cut her pancakes up and poured syrup on them. Mary Alice started eating.

"So, what do you want to do today?" Jack asked.

Mary Alice shrugged her shoulders.

"The weather's really nice today." Jack said. "Why don't we spend some time outside today."

Mary Alice nodded as she continued to eat.

"I'll be right back." Jack said. He went to the back of the cafe. He came back a moment later and after a few minutes, Abigail brought out a picnic basket.

Mary Alice looked at her father.

"I figured we could have a picnic for lunch today." Jack said. Mary Alice nodded.

When they finished, Jack paid for their meals and they headed outside. He grabbed a picnic blanket from the jailhouse and laid it on the ground behind the jailhouse. Jack picked Mary Alice up from her wheelchair and placed her on the picnic blanket. He found a ball and gently kicked it towards her as she used her hands to roll it back to him.

With Mary Alice not being able to walk, it wasn't easy to find ways to engage Mary Alice in a lot of things. But, Jack had always done his best to keep Mary Alice engaged in activities as best he could. Fortunately, she seemed to be enjoying herself.

While Mary Alice was grabbing a grape, Jack snuck up and started tickling her.

Mary Alice started giggling and laughing. Jack was laughing as well.

After a little bit, Jack stopped tickling his daughter and gave her a minute to catch her breath.

Mary Alice yawned. She was getting a little tired.

"Why don't we go inside and I'll read to you." Jack suggested.

Mary Alice nodded.

Later that night, Jack was getting Mary Alice ready for bed. He had placed a towel down on Mary Alice's side, in case she had another accident. He sang "This Little Light of Mine" as his daughter fell asleep.