It was the first Sunday of Advent and the residents of Hope Valley knew this time officially signaled the beginning of the preparations for Christmas. After Pastor Frank had finished the service that Sunday, the town's people quickly began to discuss their preparations and delegated tasks to prepare Hope Valley for the Christmas season. Rosemary was once again in charge of the Christmas committee and assigned responsibilities along with overseeing all projects' completions. Elizabeth was responsible for the Nativity Play, Dottie, the costumes, Abigail, the Christmas feast, Jack, Bill and Lee, the town decorations, and Frank, all religious components of the month. Of course, the town children were running around asking their parents whether they could write to Santa and discussing with each other what they hoped Santa brought them for Christmas. After fellowship, everyone went home to begin working on the duties assigned to them. Elizabeth sat down at the dining room table and immediately began to create time in her lesson plans to prepare the play for Christmas Eve. Jack kissed her on her head and sat down next to her, "You've done this play many times before Elizabeth, I'm sure it'll be a success."
"I know," sighed Elizabeth, "Still stressful to deal with the rehearsals and the auditions for Joseph and Mary. Not to mention the fact that I normally allow the older children to try out for Joseph and Mary, children over seven, and this year, a certain someone is over seven."
"Oh," Jack smirked gesturing his head towards the house next door.
"Yeah," chuckled Elizabeth.
"Maybe she won't want to audition for Mary," smirked Jack, clearly not meaning a word he was saying.
"Right," said Elizabeth sarcastically. She took a deep breath and gathered the paperwork on the table, "I have to get dinner started. Do you think you could keep the kids distracted so they're not under my feet?"
"Of course sweetheart," he kissed her, "William, Mary, Charlotte, how about we play outside while Mommy cooks dinner!"
"Yeah!" they all cheered as Jack gathered a few toys for them to play with outside.
"Call us in right before dinner's ready and I'll make sure they wash up," he kissed her cheek, "Love you."
"You too," said Elizabeth.
After Elizabeth had finished cooking dinner, she called her children and husband back into the house and had them clean up before setting the table. They said their mealtime prayer before they began to eat, "Mommy, why was Aunt Rosemary being so bossy after church today?" asked Charlotte.
"Charlotte Grace Thornton," warned Jack.
"Sorry Mommy," she apologized. Even at three, the twins knew a middle name meant they had to apologize.
"Apology accepted," acknowledged Elizabeth, "Aunt Rosemary isn't exactly bossy, she's just…a natural leader," Jack chuckled at his wife. He knew she agreed with Charlotte 100% but wouldn't dare show it, "Now finish your dinner and you can have some ice cream for dessert."
Charlotte smiled and immediately began to devour her food. After dinner, Jack and Elizabeth washed the dishes and Elizabeth went to bathe the kids before settling them into bed. After she had tucked the three of them in for the night, she went back downstairs where her husband was working on some Mountie reports. He smiled when he saw her and put his reports away before he sat next to her on the couch, "Well it's that time of the year in Hope Valley again, Mrs. Thornton. Are you up for the challenge?"
Elizabeth chuckled as she laid her head against his chest, "I'm always ready for any challenge with you by my side."
The next morning, the Thorntons were up bright and early for the day. Elizabeth got the girls ready so Abigail could pick them up and then made sure William was dressed and his lunch was packed for the school day, "Well, I'm off to work. I love you girls, so much," he kissed Mary and then Charlotte.
"We love you too, Daddy," they both giggled.
"You're not eating breakfast?" questioned Elizabeth sadly.
"I'll just get a coffee and scone at Abigail's. I'm sure Clara will be looking after the café until Abigail can arrive with the girls."
"Have a good day, Daddy," smiled William, hugging him.
"You too, Buddy," he embraced his son, "Love you sweetheart," he kissed Elizabeth.
"Love you too. Have a good day," she smiled.
He went to leave but turned around and smirked, "Good luck with the auditions."
"Don't remind me," said Elizabeth. Once Abigail had stopped by, Elizabeth and William went to the church where many of the other children had already arrived. Elizabeth entered the classroom and rung her cowbell, signaling the start of the day, "Good morning boys and girls!" she greeted happily.
"Good morning, Mrs. Thornton," they all chorused back.
"Now, I'm sure you're all aware it's the time of the year where our main focus is the Nativity play we perform for Hope Valley on Christmas Eve. So every afternoon from now until Christmas Eve will be spent rehearing and getting everything ready. But first, we have to make a list of who wants to audition for Joseph and Mary. Remember you must be at least seven years old to try out for the part of Joseph or Mary, but don't worry, everyone will have a role in the production," Elizabeth grabbed a pad of paper and a pencil, "So, we'll start with Joseph. Boys, who's interested?"
The boys looked at each other before Cody said, "I'll audition, Mrs. Thornton."
"Alright Cody," Elizabeth said, writing his name down on the list, "Anyone else?"
Robert hesitantly raised his hand, "I'd like to, Mrs. Thornton."
Elizabeth scribbled his name down and looked over towards William. She knew he was thinking about it, but didn't want to say anything since she was his mother, "William, would you like to audition?"
"I don't know if that's a good idea," he said softly.
Elizabeth came over to him and said, "It's okay if you do. I don't mind."
"Alright," he agreed. Elizabeth wrote her son's name down and made a mental note to recruit a few more people to help with the auditions so it wouldn't look suspicious if William did earn the part. She took a deep breath, bracing herself for her next question, "Alright girls, who's interested in auditioning for Mary?"
An energetic, bubbly, blond-haired, green-eyed girl sitting in the front shot her hand in the air eagerly. This was the same girl whom Elizabeth expected to be the first to volunteer, "Lilly Coulter, of course," Elizabeth wrote down her Goddaughter's name, "Who else?"
"Mommy has been helping me practice for the audition," boasted Lilly proudly.
"Well that's good sweetheart," said Elizabeth, placating her.
"I'll audition," said Emily.
Elizabeth smiled and wrote Emily's name down. At least Lilly wasn't auditioning unopposed.
"Mrs. Thornton, would it be okay if Brownie and I auditioned?" asked Opal sweetly.
"Of course Opal, but I think Brownie should be your moral support," she smiled. After school, Elizabeth gathered her things and William and she walked home, picking up Mary and Charlotte on the way.
Once the family arrived home, the kids ran towards their father, "DADDY!" they all shouted happily.
"Hey, there's my little ones," he said cheerfully, kissing all of them, "And one for my other girl," he kissed Elizabeth.
"Well, preparations for the Nativity play are officially in full force," commented Elizabeth.
"And?" asked Jack, raising his eyebrows.
"She was the first one to volunteer to audition for Mary," Elizabeth laughed, "Says that 'Mommy has been helping me practice for the audition'," said Elizabeth in quotes for emphasis.
Jack chuckled, "You know if she doesn't get the part, you'll have to deal with a lot of tears, right?"
"Yes, I will, but if it gets to be too much, I'm sure Lee will calm Rosemary down. And then he can work on helping Lilly," smirked Elizabeth.
Jack chuckled. They both weren't sure who wanted Lilly to get the part of Mary more, "Well, I have some more work to do, so I'll be upstairs if you need me."
Elizabeth nodded and put on her apron to start dinner. One thing was for sure, with everyone in Hope Valley contributing something special, Elizabeth had the feeling this Christmas was going to be truly unique.