Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. All rights go to the actors, writers and creators of the show "When Calls The Heart".

To The Readers: A big thank you to everyone for taking the time to write a review!

RATED M FOR ADULT THEMES - just a precaution; minor issues mentioned.

(18/07/2018)

CHAPTER 8

Jack woke up the next morning to feel something warm pressed up against his side. He opened his eyes to unfamiliar surroundings and looked down to see a mop of light brown curls poking out from under the blanket. He could feel a small hand resting up against his chest.

Eve was fast asleep in his bed and he hadn't even realised when she came in. Jack didn't want to wake her but he carefully slid onto his back and put his arm around her. She nuzzled closer into him. Jack lay there thinking about everything.

He had been worried about coming home and how he was going to handle being a dad, but laying there with his little girl in his arms, he knew he could definitely get used to this. He would normally get up straight away but now he decided that he would just make the most of it. He held her a bit tighter and drifted back off to sleep.

Elizabeth had slept in later than she usually did. Normally she was woken up by one of the girls and Eve was almost always in her bed in the morning. Today was the first time in months that she wasn't there. Elizabeth got up and had a shower and got dressed for the day. She went past each of the girl's rooms and didn't find a trace of them. She heard the television on downstairs and walked in to find Halley and Gracie curled up on the lounge watching a cartoon.

"Where's Eve?"

They both shrugged.

"Has Daddy been downstairs yet?"

"Nope." Halley replied, her eyes still fixed on the screen.

Elizabeth turned to go hurry back upstairs. Where could Eve be? Elizabeth checked her room again before heading to Jack's room. The door was ajar, so she slowly pushed it open. There was Eve and Jack, fast asleep. The sunlight filtered in and rested on their faces. Elizabeth smiled at both of them. That was a new memory she wanted to treasure. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and took a photo of them. She shoved it back into her pocket and went over to the bed, sitting down beside them.

Jack looked so peaceful. His hair was all messy the way she loved it. She couldn't help but put her hand out and sweep it off his face. He woke up as she did it and she smiled down at him.

"You seem to have stolen my hot water bottle last night. I woke up a bit colder than normal this morning" she said with a quiet laugh.

Jack looked down at Eve.

"Sorry about that. It was unintentional. The hot water bottle must have used her legs to walk in here at some stage."

"Usually about 3 am." Elizabeth ran her hand through Eve's curls and the little girl began to stir.

Eve opened her eyes and pulled back from Jack slightly.

"Hey, baby. Did you sleep well?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Mommy" she said putting her hands out to Elizabeth. Elizabeth pulled her out from under the blanket and took her in her arms.

"Did you sleep well with Daddy? I think he liked your cuddles." Elizabeth said to her while watching Jack. Jack was watching her intently, a smile on his face.

Eve nodded.

"Your sisters are watching cartoons downstairs. Do you want to go down and I will get you some breakfast?"

Immediately Eve was clambering out of her lap and was running out the door.

"Guess she's awake then?" Jack said laughing as he sat up.

Elizabeth turned her attention back to him.

"You sleep okay?"

"Yeah, my wake-up call was even better though" he grinned cheekily at her.

"Oh, smooth, Thornton!" she said about to get up when his good arm wrapped around her pulling her down to his side. His cast rested on her shoulders and the other arm was around her waist.

"This would've been even better" he said.

"I would have to agree" she said into his chest. She nestled her head into his neck like she used to, inhaling the scent of him. He smelt exactly the same. Oh I've missed him so much. She lay there for a few moments, her fingers were absent mindedly running along the skin of his hip where his pyjama pants sat. Giving him space was going to be more difficult than she thought. Elizabeth knew what she wanted, her body was screaming it at her, but her mind was still telling her no. Jack still didn't remember her like that.

She reluctantly dragged herself away.

"Breakfast will be ready in ten" she said as she walked out of the room, not looking back at him.

Jack watched as Elizabeth walked out the door. It felt so good having her lying there on his chest. He had enhaled the scent of her perfume and her shampoo that mingled to make the most amazing smell. He still couldn't believe that only a week ago he thought he was engaged to Rosie and how shocked he was to find they had split up. Then lying here in this house with this woman that he didn't remember but felt so connected to. It was such an odd sensation.

Jack dressed and went downstairs to see Elizabeth serving up crispy bacon and French toast. Eve was sitting at the table stuffing her face with strawberries.

"Girls, come on. Breakfast is ready" Elizabeth called out.

"That smells amazing Elizabeth."

Elizabeth turned to see him behind her and she smiled.

"Here's your plate" she said passing it to him as he walked in.

"Eve likes strawberries, huh?"

"Yes, you better get in quick. Gracie likes them even more than Eve."

"How is that possible?" he said laughing as he watched his daughter chewing one strawberry as she held another one ready to take its place.

Elizabeth just laughed as she flipped another piece of toast in the pan.

Halley and Gracie traipsed in and sat at the table where their plates were waiting.

Jack put his plate down between Halley and Eve and went to sit down when he noticed Gracie staring at him. She didn't say anything but Jack sensed something was bothering her.

"Gracie, what's wrong?"

"Nothing" she said, looking down at her hands.

Jack wasn't exactly sure what to do. You're her father. You know something is wrong, so fix it. He went around to her side of the table and crouched down, putting his hand around her shoulders.

"Gracie, I can tell something is wrong but you have to tell me otherwise we can't fix it" he said to her quietly.

"Your seat is next to me. Mommy sits next to Halley" she said, still looking down at her hands in her lap.

"Oh, right. I forgot. Silly me. We can fix that then, can't we."

Jack stood back up and sat down in the seat next to Gracie and grabbed his plate from Elizabeth's spot. He looked down at Gracie who was watching him and smiled at her. She smiled back and began eating her breakfast. Elizabeth finished cooking her food and sat down opposite him.

Elizabeth mentioned that they were invited to Lee and Rosie's for lunch.

"Yay!" Halley said. Gracie was also grinning broadly.

"You remember Rosie and Lee's boys, Jack? Will is 7 and Sammy is 5" Elizabeth said to him.

"Right, of course" Jack said nodding. Halley and Gracie cleared their plates and left the room as Elizabeth called out to them to get dressed so they would be ready to go.

Eve stayed where she was. He noticed Eve hadn't been as happy as her sisters at their lunch plans.

"Eve, are you happy to go today?" he asked her, placing his hand on her back as he spoke.

"Eve finds that she gets a little bit left out because she's the youngest" Elizabeth almost whispered across the table.

Jack nodded. "It will be alright, baby. You just come grab me if you feel lonely and we'll find something to do. Okay?"

She nodded and slid off her chair to follow her sisters.

"I'm still a bit confused about us and Rosie."

"How so?" Elizabeth asked looking up from her plate.

"You know … how we have all remained friends remains a bit of a mystery, considering."

"Mmm I suppose it would seem that way."

"It doesn't bother you that we hang out with my ex-fiance and her family?"

"No. Jack we have been together for ten years. You were with Rosie for less than three of which you were doing a long distance relationship for most of it. You always told me that what you felt me was different to what you felt with Rosie and I always believed you. After you see Lee and Rosie together you will understand why. They balance one another. For all Rosie's craziness, Lee is calm and enjoys being kept on his toes."

Jack nodded at her, thinking about what she said. Elizabeth and Rosie are so different and he had already felt the instant attraction to Elizabeth that he never remembered having with Rosie.

"So you and I, do we balance each other out too?"

Elizabeth smiled at him and Jack could see why he couldn't keep his mind of this woman.

"I suppose so but we are more similar. We were both always very family oriented and wanted the same things. I suppose I was a bit more serious whereas you liked to enjoy yourself so that part we balanced each other."

"Well I'm all up for enjoying things" Jack smiled back.

"Yes, you are" Elizabeth said laughing.

Elizabeth drove Jack and the girls to Lee and Rosie's. Jack stared out the window the whole time, not speaking much, but the girls made up for him. Halley and Gracie babbled on excitedly as they always did when they were going to play at a friend's house.

Elizabeth pulled up the drive to a modest house with a white picket fence. Elizabeth opened the back door and the three girls filed out, Halley racing Gracie to the door. They opened it and let themselves in. Eve put her hands up to Jack, who scooped her up and followed Elizabeth in.

Immediately, she could hear Rosie's loud voice in the back of the house along with music blaring. Elizabeth led them through to the kitchen and dining room.

"Elizabeth! Jack!" Rosie said over the music. She quickly turned it down and came to give them a hug.

"Uncle Jack!" a blonde-haired boy screamed and threw himself around Jack's leg, while another did the same to his other leg.

"Hi boys! You've both gotten so big!"

"Uncle Jack, I play baseball now!" One of the boys said to him.

"That's great buddy."

"And I start big school soon!"

"That's awesome."

"Jack, Lee is outside. Just go find him" she pointed towards the door, so he went outside with Eve still in his arms.

Once the door was shut, Rosie dived right in with the personal questions.

"So Elizabeth, how is it all going?"

"Okay, so far" she said sitting down on a stool at the breakfast bar.

"Does he remember anything yet?"

"No" Elizabeth said sadly, her head resting in one hand.

"So what have you been doing to remind him?"

"Well we have been talking a bit, filling him on a few stories."

Rosie looked at her like she had two heads. "That's it?"

"What do you mean 'is that it'?"

"Have you kissed him? Did you take him to bed?"

"Rosie! He thought he was engaged to you! It's essentially like starting to date a guy from the start. I'm not going to just take him to bed with me. That would be weird."

"He's your husband! Why would it be weird?"

"Not for me! For him!" Elizabeth said exasperated.

"Well if it's not weird for you, just do it! It could be what's holding him back. Come on you two used to do it like rabbits anyway."

Jack walked back in the door right at that moment.

"Um sorry to interrupt, but Lee wants the grill spice?"

Elizabeth could feel her cheeks were bright red. Did Jack just hear that? Rosie and her big mouth! She just hoped that her hands hid her embarrassment.

Elizabeth saw Rosie look daggers at him for being interrupted, before turning to the pantry and grabbing the jar. She handed it to him and waited until he was well and truly out the door before turning back to Elizabeth.

"Did he hear what you said?" Elizabeth asked first.

"I don't know. I didn't see him until I heard the door close."

"Rosie!" Elizabeth groaned, burying her face in her hands.

"What? He would've found out anyway!" she said shrugging.

"How was he going to ever find that out unless he remembers?"

"Maybe Lee would tell him."

"How would Lee know? I doubt it's something that Jack would have talked about."

"Men always talk about that stuff. Sure, Jack is different, but he would have mentioned it at some point in the last nine years."

"NOT TO MY COUSIN!" Elizabeth yelled.

Rosie looked surprised at her outburst.

"Rosie, we are changing the topic away from my sex life, or lack thereof."

"For the moment ..."

Elizabeth gave her a look.

"Okay, fine." Rosie relented. "Back to ways in which to help Jack remember you. How about your perfume?"

"Tried it. Nothing."

"Shampoo?"

"Tried it. Nothing."

"He had a good sniff and still nothing?"

"I think so. Nothing."

"A hug?"

"Yep. Nothing."

"Okay, kissing?"

"Yes. Nothing."

"Like a good kiss, or a peck."

"A really good kiss until Halley walked in on us. Nothing."

"Hmm. This is going to be tough."

"I know."

"I'm going to keep thinking." Rosie said, walking to the fridge and pulling a salad out.

Jack had walked into the kitchen and heard Rosie's voice loud and clear. If he wasn't certain about what he heard, Elizabeth's body language had said it all. Her shoulders were tight, her hands covered her face and she hadn't even turned to look at him when he entered. Rosie had given him "the look" which he very clearly knew. It was either 'you did something wrong', 'you forgot something' or 'you're interrupting'. He was pretty sure that he was at fault of doing all three.

Jack took the grill spice back to Lee and stood there silently watching him cook.

"Why you so quiet?" Lee asked.

"No reason."

"What did Rosie say?" he laughed.

"Huh."

"She must have said something to you to make you quiet."

"Oh I just overheard something that I don't think I was supposed to." Jack said looking at his feet.

"Let me guess. Rosie said something either brutally honest or highly inappropriate and Beth was standing there cringing and embarrassed."

"Um yeah that's pretty much spot on. How did you .."

"We've been married eight years and Rosie's mouth is always getting her in trouble. What did she say?"

"You're Beth's cousin, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Well I probably shouldn't tell you."

Lee roared with laughter.

"What is so funny?" Jack said confused.

"They were talking about sex?" Lee kept laughing.

"Yeah." Jack said feeling mortified.

"Rosie would be the one to ask. What did you hear?"

"I don't know. I'm sure it was nothing." Jack said blushing, understanding exactly how Elizabeth had just been feeling.

Lee slapped him on the back.

"Don't worry about it Jack. I know this is all really strange for you and Rosie was just being, well Rosie. Don't let this affect your relationship with Beth. I'm sure you're taking everything slow and trying to get to know her again. The rest will come back with time."

Jack nodded, relieved that Lee wasn't pressuring him into talking.

"What if it doesn't though?"

"You mean what if your memories don't come back?"

Jack nodded.

Lee sighed sadly. "I don't know but Jack, they're your family whether you remember them or not. It will be your decision if you try and remain a part of their lives or not. No one can force you into doing something you don't want to do but I know you. You wouldn't abandon them."

"I don't think I could walk out. It's just I feel like I'm living someone else's life."

Jack felt lost. He was in another strange house with his ex-fiance, her husband and two kids that he couldn't remember their names. His own wife and daughters were here which he was trying desperately to remember anything about them. He was feeling very overwhelmed.

"I just don't know that I can do this."

"Jack, have you seen the therapist yet?"

"No, I'm supposed to go this week."

"I would suggest calling them tomorrow and talking to a professional. They will know what to do better than me and better than Beth. Trust them."

Jack nodded.

Jack was quiet again in the car going home and Elizabeth was beginning to worry that something was up. They ate dinner together and Jack helped get the girls ready for bed. He met her back on the sofa. She waited for him to tell her what was on his mind but he didn't.

"Oh Jack, I forgot to give you something yesterday." Elizabeth stood up and went over to the counter and grabbed a black cell phone. "Here's your phone back. I charged it up for you. There are quite a few messages and missed calls from the last few days."

She handed it to him and Jack just stared at it.

"Jack … is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I just … I don't remember how to use it."

"Oh right." Elizabeth scooted closer to him and took the phone out of his hands.

"This is the on/off button. You put your pin number in here, which is my birthday. 1006. You just press the screen like this. Then to check your calls, you can see the icon down here which indicates you have 10 missed calls and 135 messages. Wow Jack! No wonder it was buzzing like crazy when I turned it back on."

"Okay, so how do I see who called me?"

Elizabeth showed him how to navigate the phone and its apps. Jack looked incredibly confused.

"Do I normally know what I'm doing with this?" he said uncertainly.

"Yes" she said surprised. Jack frowned.

Elizabeth recollected herself. "You will get the hang of it Jack."

"Right, but I don't know any of the people that have called or messaged me."

"Yes, but you will have to meet them all again at some stage. A lot of these people are your fellow army officers. They will want to see you."

"But I don't remember any of them" Jack said, his tone getting frustrated.

"No, but they all know that. They all love you Jack. They want to see that you're okay."

"But I'm not okay!" Jack's voice was louder and he felt himself getting angry, not at Elizabeth, just at the situation.

"I know that, but we have to try and get back to normal."

"Normal? How is any of this normal? You want me to start returning phone calls and messages to strangers? Its hard enough doing all of this." He waved his hands around as he spoke.

"Jack, I know this is hard" she spoke calmly, as if she was talking to one of her students. "But we have to try and work through this."

"HOW?" he yelled. "I DON'T KNOW YOU. I DON'T KNOW THE GIRLS. I DON'T KNOW THE HOUSE. I DON'T KNOW OUR FRIENDS. I'M DOING EVERYTHING I CAN TO FIT IN BUT I DON'T REMEMBER ANYTHING!"

Elizabeth was frightened at his temper. Jack rarely got mad and he never yelled at her.

"Jack" she reached out her hand and grasped his. She was worried he would pull away but he didn't. "Today was probably too much too soon. We will take it slower. We will stick with just us for the next few days. Get you used to just me and the girls." Elizabeth watched as Jack looked down at their hands.

"You are doing better than you think. Eve can't spend enough time with you and I heard you and Gracie this morning at breakfast. The three girls haven't realised that you don't know them so what you are doing is the right thing. They are the three most important people right now and so far they are happy with you just being you. Concentrate on them."

Jack nodded at her and Elizabeth could see a small amount of relief in her eyes.

"What about you? I thought you were important too."

"Yes, but I will understand when the girls don't. They are the priority. Okay?"

He nodded again, still holding her hand tight.

"Come on. It's been a big day." She stood up and pulled him with her leaving the phone behind. She turned off all the lights and led him upstairs. "I will be back in a second" she said, leaving him in his room.

She went to her bedroom and pulled on her pyjama bottoms and singlet. She went back to the guest room and found him sitting on the edge of the bed. He looked up surprised to see her in her pyjamas. She just smiled at him and pulled back the covers of his bed encouraging him to lay down. She then turned off the light and got in next to him, curling up against him, resting her head on his chest, his arm automatically wrapping around her. She could hear his heart beating fast but after a few minutes it began to calm. Before long she could tell he had drifted to sleep. She thought about going back to her own bed for about a millisecond but the feeling of being in her husband's arms again made the decision easy.