The flight back to Maple Hills was interesting. Lincoln cried almost the entire two hours. Beth tried to keep him occupied with food and toys but he just didn't want to be where he was. Finally toward the end of the flight, she gave him another massage and put his pacifier in his mouth and hummed and he fell asleep. Of course, then they had to put him in his seat to land and he started crying again.

Jack and Beth's nerves were frazzled by the time they stood waiting for their luggage which included his car seat and his stroller.

As soon as they got his stroller off the conveyer belt, they set it up and put him in it, fishing more juice from the diaper bag that they had bought on the plane.

"Mamaaaaaaaaaa!" he screamed as soon as she set him in it.

"Jack, I'm going to go walk him around to see if I can get him to sleep again."

"Okay."

Beth walked up and gave him a kiss. "I love you, Jack."

"I love you too." He kissed her back and watched as they walked off.

Beth ignored the stares and annoyed looks of other people in the airport and just concentrated on keeping the stroller moving. Finally, he quieted and she peeked around the stroller. He had put the pacifier back in his mouth and drifted off.

She texted Jack. "He's asleep."

"That's good. I've got the luggage. Will meet you by the doors."

She paced, wanting to keep the stroller moving until Jack came back. It took about fifteen minutes but he found her. "Sorry, it took so long." He was pushing a cart with their luggage and the car seat.

"What are we going to do, Jack?"

"What do you mean?"

"We don't have a crib or a high chair or a lot of other things."

"We will buy it." She sniffed and wiped her eyes and then turned, as if to hide from him. "Hey. Beth, what's wrong?"

"I guess I'm just overwhelmed."

He wrapped his arms around her and held her, rubbing her back. "Do you want to postpone the wedding, Beth? Truth."

"No, I want to be your wife. I'm probably just tired."

"You can tell me, Beth. Anything that is concerning you or worrying you. I want to know so that I can help you get through it."

"Just so much is happening all at once. I'm just overthinking it."

He gently leaned his forehead against hers and smiled. "I'm here, sweetheart. If you need to tell me anything, I will listen. If you just need a kiss..."

She smiled and found his lips with hers. "I always need a kiss."

"On it." He wrapped his arms around her tighter and kissed her long and deep, not caring one bit that they were in the middle of the airport.

"Jack Thornton!" a familiar voice called.

"Ma?" He turned around and smiled. "Ma!" He rushed over and gave his mom a hug.

Beth smiled at him but stayed with their luggage and Lincoln. It didn't take long and he had brought his mother over and the man standing beside her.

"Mom, you remember Beth? Beth, my mother, Charlotte and her boyfriend, David."

Charlotte reached out and hugged Beth and then caught sight of Lincoln. "Who's this?"

"Well, it's a long story," Jack told her. "Why don't we all go out to eat and we will tell you all about it?"

It turned out, Jack had forgotten that he was supposed to pick up his mom and David from the airport that day so it was good that they had both cars to transport everything.

A bit later, they sat in the diner in Maple Hills, Lincoln laying in Beth's arms, awake, but grumpy.

"Mom, remember Gabe Montgomery?"

"Yeah, he hung out with you and Jesse, right?"

"Yes, and we went to the Police Academy together too. Well, they asked me to be their son's guardian if anything ever happened to him and his wife."

"Oh," Charlotte looked at Lincoln. "They passed away?"

"Yeah. Last week."

"Wow. That's so sad. How is he doing?"

"It's been hard. He wants his mom so much but Beth is so good with him." Jack put his arm around her shoulder and kissed her temple.

Beth smiled and kissed the top of Lincoln's head. "Do you want me to change you, Linc?"

He looked up at her, nodding his head.

"We will be right back." She got up and they walked out of the diner.

"How's Beth doing? This is a lot to handle with the wedding and her B and B opening."

"She's overwhelmed. I wonder if it's just too much for her."

"Has she said that?"

"She said she is overwhelmed but she still wants to get married next week. I'm glad it's just family. Less stressful that way."

"What happens with Lincoln on your wedding night?"

"Beth's good friend Bree offered to watch him at the B and B. Plus you two will be there too, right?"

"Yes. Maybe if we spend some time with him over the next week that will help," David suggested.

"Yeah and, Mom, if you could help Beth with wedding stuff that would take some of the pressure off her."

"I would love to help."

Beth and Lincoln toddled back to the table. She put him in his high chair just as the waitress brought their food order.

Beth blew on some French fries and placed them in front of Lincoln. He frowned and knocked them on the floor.

"Linc, why are you so grumpy?" Beth asked him. He tried to grab her glass of water but she moved it out of reach. "Say please, bud."

"No," he told her, his lower lip protruding in a pout.

She shook her head. As grumpy as he was, he was still really adorable. She gave him a kiss on his forehead. "Are you just ready to go?"

He raised his arms and she picked him up. He rested his head on her shoulder and played with her hair. "Mama?"

"I know. I'm sorry." Her emotions kicked in and she fought to keep them in check but the tears escaped, one by one. "I'm sorry. I think we all just need some good sleep."

Then she remembered something. "Oh, we don't have a crib."

"Do you have a store in town that sells them?" David asked.

"No. We need to go to Burlington."

"Well, give us directions and we can go pick one up."

"And it's not going to hurt Lincoln to sleep with one of you for the night," Charlotte assured them.

"We will go get one," David told them.

"We really appreciate that," Beth told them as they all stood.

"Of course. Are we bringing it back to your place, Jack?"

"No, Linc and I will be staying at the B and B. One less move for him."

Jack moved Beth's luggage from her car to his and then buckled Lincoln in to his seat. Of course he started whimpering. Beth handed him his pacifier and he put it in his mouth.

"Let's go home now," she said.

Jack told Charlotte and David how to get to the Walmart in Burlington and then gave them the address to get back to the B and B.

Beth took Linc into the B and B as soon as they got home. He was sleeping and she hoped that he would stay asleep for as long as possible to give her a chance to catch her breath.

Of course, Ginger was happy to see Beth and barked when she walked in, waking up Linc and causing another crying fit.

"Ginge, shhh," Beth scolded.

Bree met Beth at the door. "Hi! This must be Lincoln."

"Yeah, I'm sorry I didn't call you very much while we were there. It's a long story, but I would love to tell you about it over some tea in a bit?"

"Of course. I have news too so we definitely need to chat."

Beth put Lincoln on the floor to give her arms a break and led him over to the couch near where Ginger was. She patted the couch next to Lincoln and Ginger jumped up, giving Lincoln a lick on his face. That made him giggle. "Good girl, Ginger."

"Dog," he whispered. Ginger licked him again and laid her head in his lap. Beth took his hand and gently stroked her fur, teaching him how to do it.

"Good job, Linc." He smiled up at her and kept patting the dog.

Jack opened the door and wheeled the first of the luggage into the house. He pulled it close to the stairs since it was his and then headed back out. Beth watched him walk out.

"I can watch him," Bree offered.

"He may cry," Beth told her.

"Have you met Tate and Xavier? I can handle crying, Beth. Go see Jack and take a breather."

Beth gave Lincoln a kiss on his head. "I will be right back. You stay with the doggie and Bree, okay?"

He grinned at her and continued patting the dog's head. She slipped away and sighed into the evening air just outside the door. "Home feels good, doesn't it?" Jack asked from the porch swing.

"Yeah. Really good."

"Come here, Beth." She walked over and sat next to him, snuggling into his comforting arms. "I know I keep asking, but is this too much for you, sweetheart?"

"No."

"You can tell me if it is. I won't be angry."

"It's really not, Jack. Though, I can say that honestly I had no idea how difficult cleaning out their house would be or taking care of a child who you can't reason with or explain to why his parents aren't around anymore."

"Difficult emotionally?"

"Yeah. I just want to cry. Cry for him. It's really getting to me."

"Me too."

"Have you cried, Jack?"

"Not yet but I'm sure it will happen. It is difficult and there is nothing wrong with feeling grief for his situation."

"I guess not."

"Speaking of Lincoln, where is he?"

"I left him with Ginger and Bree. He was petting Ginger and smiling."

"Good." He gently guided her lips to his and lingered there, just enjoying being alone. "I missed you, Beth."

"I missed you too."

She kissed him again and then heard a noise at the window. They turned around and laughed. Ginger was standing there with Lincoln, both of them staring out at Jack and Beth.

"I should probably go get the rest of our stuff."

"I'll help you. He's doing fine."

As soon as he saw them walk away though, he started wailing. They could hear him from the car. "Uh oh," Jack said with a laugh. "He was doing fine."

They grabbed Lincoln's two suitcases and Beth's two and walked back in. "Hey, buddy. We were coming right back," Beth told him, picking him up.

He clung to her hard, communicating his relief that she was back and holding him.

Bree smiled at Beth. "He was so panicked."

"Poor Linc. Do you want to take a bath, bud?"

"Yeah," he said with a nod.

"Okay, let's go take a bubble bath. Jack can handle bringing the rest of the stuff in." Beth put Lincoln down and grabbed his suitcases. "Come this way, sweetie." He and Ginger walked behind her into her master.

She opened the suitcases and found a diaper and Lincoln's pajamas. "Alright, let's go."

"Go."

She sat on the edge of the tub and started the water and then poured bubbles in, making sure it wasn't too hot. A bath sounded great to her too.

"Beth?" Jack called from the bedroom.

"In here."

"Hey, just wondering if you want Linc to sleep with me tonight?"

"He can sleep in here. I don't mind."

"Alright."

"I'd be good with you sleeping in here too, just for tonight."

"If you're sure."

"I am."

"Okay."

"I am going to make some tea and sit with Bree for a bit before bed."

He bent down and kissed her. "Take your time." Beth took Linc's clothes and diaper off and put him in the bath. "Which room do you want me in, Beth, after tonight?" Jack asked, walking back in.

"The one with the zebra rug. And please put your mom and David in the room with the four poster bed. Unless David wants his own room. Then put him in the brown room."

"Got it."

Linc got sleepy in the bath so Beth filled a sippy cup with milk and took him to the couch. Shortly after, Bree arrived with their tea.

"So tell me more about this cute little guy."

"His parents were killed in a car accident about a week ago. They named Jack as guardian, which you already know."

"Poor kid."

"Yeah. It is so hard, Bree. To watch him confused and sad. We can't explain it to him and it's so hard when he gets upset every night. I'm guessing Payton must have still nursed him at night because that's when he cries the most for her."

"It's good he has you and Jack." Bree watched Beth massage Lincoln and get him to drift off to sleep within minutes. "You will be good parents for him."

"I'm going to try. I'm starting to love him, Bree."

"That's good. Loving a child is one of the most rewarding experiences I have ever had. Are you excited for your wedding?"

"Is it bad if I say that excitement is not what I'm feeling right now?"

She had no idea that Jack heard that sentence as he stood in the kitchen. But he had and now things would need to be discussed before much else happened. What he didn't know is how she had explained things to Bree after that statement.