A month after the season 5 finale – Elizabeth is 15 weeks pregnant

It was a cool winter's afternoon as Elizabeth walked into the town after a busy day at school. Robert and Cody had a fight, Opal lost Brownie and Hattie snagged her dress on the railing of the school stairs and tore it, making for a chaotic day. It was only a couple weeks until Christmas, so the children were also all excited for the holiday.

Elizabeth laughed to herself as she watched a small group of her students rushing out of the mercantile, most likely with a bag of candy. She moved one of her hands to her stomach, resting it on the small bump where her own baby was growing as she began to day-dream of her baby playing on the streets with the other children.

In her mind, their baby was a little boy with curly brown hair and hazel eyes. He looked like Jack. She wished that Jack was here to experience this with her.

"Elizabeth!" A voice called from behind her, pulling her from her day dream. Elizabeth turned to see a concerned Abigail standing behind her at the porch of the Café.

"Oh. Hi Abigail." She replied with a forced smile as Abigail walked up to her.

"What were you doing? Standing there in the middle of the street." Abigail asked curiously. Tears instantly began to well up in Elizabeth's eyes making Abigail pull the young teacher into a hug.

"Come with me." She said with a comforting smile as she led Elizabeth through the café to the back room, sitting down on her sofa, gesturing for Elizabeth to sit as well.

"I was imagining my baby playing with the children and it hit me again that Jack wouldn't be here for any of this. I don't know if I can do this without him, Abigail." She admitted with a sob, lowering her head to look down at the ground.

"Elizabeth Thornton. You are the strongest woman I know. If anyone can do this, it is you." Abigail insisted, reaching out and grabbing the younger woman's hand, who had stayed staring at the ground, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"You are a kind, smart, loving person. You are strong. You can do this Elizabeth. And you aren't alone. You have all of Hope Valley and your family to help you. You can get through this." She continued. Elizabeth raised her head.

"You mean it?" She stuttered.

"Of course, I do. If you don't believe me, ask anyone else in this town. I'm sure they would say the same." Abigail said with a smile, standing up and pulling Elizabeth into a hug.

Three weeks later – Elizabeth is 18 weeks pregnant

"Have you started thinking of what your baby's nursery will look like?" Rosemary asked suddenly. Rosie and Elizabeth had made it a fortnightly occurrence to have dinner together at Elizabeth's.

"Not yet. I need to make room in my room for the crib. I've been meaning to organise for one from Hamilton with my father. Jack was going to build our baby one, but now…" Elizabeth replied.

"I'm sorry Elizabeth. I shouldn't have asked." Rosie replied, feeling guilty for reminding her friend of something Jack wasn't going to do for her now.

"It's okay Rosemary, you didn't mean any harm. I'm okay." Elizabeth replied with a small smile, reassuring her friend.

Rosemary and Abigail were the best of help for Elizabeth. They distracted her when she needed to be distracted from her thoughts, they sat and soothed her when she needed a good cry and they were always there to reassure her that everything would be okay.

"How about you and I go to Union City during the school break? We could go baby shopping together!" Rosie exclaimed, killing the silence, yet again.

"You know what Rosemary? I think that is a great idea. I'd love to." Elizabeth replied excitedly. For the rest of dinner, the duo discussed plans for their baby shopping trip.

Earlier that day.

The town of Hope Valley, minus Elizabeth, the children and a couple others, gathered in the Saloon for a secret town meeting. Abigail stood in front of the crowd and began to talk.

"As many of you are probably aware, before his unfortunate death, Jack Thornton had begun building a house for him and Elizabeth, on a block of land just outside the town. Elizabeth is due to have a baby in a few months and the house isn't finished. I know she would be happy to stay in her row house however to show appreciation for all Elizabeth and Jack have or had done for this town, I thought that we could come together and complete the house that Jack had started as a community. Ready for Elizabeth and the baby. Who would like to help?" Abigail said with a smile as hands shot up from all over. Rosemary stood up and walked to the front.

"I think that is a brilliant idea for our dear Elizabeth. We would need to keep it a surprise of course! Oh! I could be the decoy. I could take Elizabeth away to shop for baby things while you all work on the house." Rosemary exclaimed excitedly. Lee sighed and shot an apologetic look at Abigail who laughed slightly.

"Thank you, Rosemary. Maybe you could take her shopping during the school break after New Years when Elizabeth returns from Hamilton. She's spending Christmas with her family and coming home the day after New Years. We will need you to help the children, they should have a part in helping with the house."

"Yes. Of course. I could do that." Rosie replied excitedly, walking back and sitting back in her seat next to Lee.

A/N Re-uploaded to remove encryption error. Happy Reading. Anna xx