This one's short but a bit of fun :)

(12/11/2018)

CHAPTER 60

"You tell her."

"No. You tell her" Elizabeth said shaking her head adamantly at Jack.

"Uh uh. She's your friend. You do it."

"Nooo. She was your friend first. You do it."

"Scissors, paper, rock?"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "Fine. 1 … 2 … 3."

Jack made a rock with his fist while Elizabeth made a piece of paper out of her flat hand.

"Ha. You win. You're doing it" Jack said, triumphant.

"No way. That is not how it works! I win so you're telling Rosemary!"

"Best out of three?"

"You're kidding?"

"No. Scissors … paper … rock!" Jack said, shaking his hand again.

Five minutes later, Jack was trying to work out how he was going to tell his long-time friend that he and Elizabeth were expecting a new addition to their family. They were now pulling out of their driveway on the way to the Coulters for an early Sunday night dinner.

Jack drove in silence, dwelling on the fact for the whole thirty minute trip. It was not so long ago that he thought Rosie was still his girlfriend.

When they arrived, Jack walked up to the house behind his wife and daughters dragging his feet. He walked down the hall and heard Rosemary's shrill voice before she appeared and then he saw her hugging Elizabeth.

"Hi Rosie" he said when she grabbed him for a hug.

"Hi Jack. How have you been?"

"Good. Thanks."

The girls were all directed outside where the Coulter boys were kicking a ball on the back lawn.

"Anything new been happening?" Rosie said, continuing their conversation.

Jack glanced at Elizabeth who had her eyebrows raised with a smirk on her face.

"No. Nothing happening."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes at him again. She really is giving those eyes a work out today.

"Well, Lee is outside starting the grill I think. You know, I was surprised to hear from you for dinner tonight. I thought something important must be happening with work or something."

"Nope, but Elizabeth's pregnant."

And with that he took off out the back door, with a quick glance back at Elizabeth who was standing there with her hands on her hips staring after him, pursing her lips at him. He gave her a cheeky grin.

"What?!" he heard Rosie say just as the door closed behind him.

Elizabeth watched as Jack disappeared through the door and she shook her head.

"YOU'RE PREGNANT AGAIN?!" Rosie's high-pitched voice resounded in the room.

Elizabeth smiled and nodded her head slowly.

"But how? I didn't think you two were going to have any more kids."

"We weren't."

"Well that just doesn't happen. Wait! Didn't Jack's procedure work?" she said, her mouth hanging open in horror, her hand covering her chest.

"What procedure?"

"His vasectomy."

Elizabeth looked at her confused. "Jack never got a vasectomy."

"Are you sure?"

Elizabeth just nodded her head. "Um, yes, I would know if my husband had a vasectomy. He might not remember, but I would" she added with a little laugh.

"I'm sure Jack got a vasectomy … "

"Mmm, no."

"Oh, wait. No, it was Brian Jefferson from two doors down. He also has three daughters. I must have confused Jack and Brian."

"Okay …"

Rosie recollected herself. "Anyway, I thought you were done with three kids. What happened?"

"It's simple really" Elizabeth said. "My implant expired. Jack got amnesia. I got pregnant."

"How does him getting amnesia make you pregnant?" Rosie said confused.

"Oh Rosie. You're hopeless" she said frustrated at Rosie's lack of understanding. "My implant expired and I forgot about it because Jack got amnesia."

"Well, it sounds like you got amnesia if you forgot about your contraceptive implant."

Elizabeth groaned at her.

"Well, I'm sorry. It does" Rosie said emphatically. "So how far along are you?"

"Eleven weeks."

"Eleven weeks? Jack didn't even remember who you were eleven weeks ago!"

"He had the accident at the beginning of June. It's now October! That is more than eleven weeks ago."

"Not by much. But I thought you two were having trouble in the bedroom."

"Don't say it like that!" Elizabeth argued. "You make it sound like we didn't know what to do."

"Well, did you?"

"Of course, we did. I didn't forget what to do in bed with my husband!" she said whispering in a slightly annoyed tone, glancing at the door making sure none of the children were about to appear. She took a deep breath before continuing in a calmer manner. "Let's just say we had a bit of trouble reconnecting for a few weeks. But after we renewed our vows, everything basically went back to normal."

"Well, almost normal."

"What do you mean almost normal?"

"Well, you renewed your vows and then you got pregnant. That's not what you would call normal."

Elizabeth couldn't argue with that.

"So what are you going to do?"

"Do? About what?"

"The baby. When is it due?"

"May again."

"Wow, you two love that month don't you!"

"Gracie was born in April."

"Sure, but she was due in May."

"Well, you can't blame us for this one. This baby was totally unplanned" Elizabeth said as she ran her hand over her unnoticeable belly.

Rosie seemed to soften at the sight. "Congratulations Elizabeth. I am happy for you."

"Thank you" Elizabeth smiled back. "It was quite a shock at first but we're both over the moon about it all now."

"I'm glad. It has been a tough few months for you and Jack. You deserve to have this to look forward to." Rosie gave her another big hug before pulling away suddenly. "Now, where is that husband of yours? He deserves a clip over the ears for telling me like that!"

Jack found Lee hovering over the grill, trying to get it to light.

"What's the problem?"

"I can smell the gas, but the darn thing won't turn on."

"Here I'll give it a try."

Jack leant down and checked all of the connections before standing back up and giving the starter another go. It sparked straight away and the flames came to life.

"Aaah, thank you. You have the magic touch."

Jack moved away, taking a seat in one of the chairs nearby. Lee pulled two beers out of the cooler and handed one to Jack before sitting down beside him.

"How's everything going at work?" Lee asked as he took off the lid of his beer.

"Alright. Making more progress now Shane is back."

"That's good to hear."

"Yeah. They're thinking if I remember some more they might move me out of the field and into an advisory role but it is all hinging on my memory still."

"Well that would be alright."

"Yeah, except we would have to move."

"Where to?"

"Don't know. It's a few years off. I haven't told Elizabeth that yet."

"Well, there isn't much you can do about it. You have to go where they send you."

"Yes. We both knew that from the beginning. Even this base isn't a sure thing, we've just been lucky that we haven't been required to go elsewhere."

Their conversation was interrupted by Rosie's loud voice.

"Jack!"

Lee looked straight at him. "What did you do?" he whispered.

"How do you know I did anything?" Jack said in surprise.

Lee rolled his eyes. Not again. That look must really be contagious. "I've lived with that woman for eight years. I know when someone is in trouble and right now it's you."

Jack stood up and stood back beside the grill, out of sight from Rosemary's direction, a big cheeky grin on his face.

"What are you doing?"

"Hiding from your wife."

"Why?"

"She's looking for me."

"That woman has the nose of a bloodhound. She will find you if she wants to find you."

"Jack Thornton! Get out here!"

"No, I'll pass" he yelled back.

Then Rosie was there glaring at him.

"What do you mean by telling me that and bolting out the door?"

"Elizabeth said I had to be the one to tell you. She did not specify how I had to tell you."

"I'm fairly certain that she did not mean like that."

"It's fine. It's done now. You have been informed."

"And what do you have to say for yourself?"

"Nothing. What do you want me to say?"

"What's going on?" Lee interrupted them.

"Elizabeth's pregnant" Rosie said, waving her hand as if it was no big deal.

"Really? Congratulations, man!" Lee said, giving him a slap on the back.

"He told me and then ran out the door."

"Yeah, well, I don't blame him. You can be scary, Rosie."

"I am not scary" she said, as she waved her hands around.

At that moment, Elizabeth appeared behind Rosie and came to stand by Jack's side. Rosie was still talking as if she was on stage but only Lee was listening to her, and even then he may just have had a lot of practice making it look like he was listening.

Elizabeth wrapped her arm around Jack's waist and she looked up at him with a small smile on her face. Jack leant over, grazing his lips over hers. They stared at each other for a long moment before Rosie drew their attention back to her.

"Oh, you two really are back to normal. Acting all lovey-dovey again" Rosie said with a smile.

"We're not all lovey-dovey" Elizabeth protested.

"Yes, you are. Your hands are all over one another and you're kissing in front of us again."

"Our hands are not all over one another, although they can be" Jack said with wink at Rosie before his hand slid lower from its spot on the small of Elizabeth's back.

"Cut it out, Jack. You're making me look bad!" Lee added. "We have to cook some meat anyway."

"Oh yes. I'll just go grab the sausages!" Rosie turned and hurried back into the kitchen.

Elizabeth gave Jack a quick kiss on the cheek before she followed Rosie.

Jack was quiet for a moment, thinking.

"What's wrong, Jack?"

"Just thinking about what Rosie said."

"Which bit?"

"Saying we're back to normal. Was that how we were before?"

Lee laughed. "Yes. You two are always together, you're hands around one another. Don't let what Rosie said change that. I've known you two for long enough that it is nice to see it again. It really does mean that you're back."

"I've always been back" Jack said with a chuckle.

"Yeah sure, but you know what I mean. It's normal again."

Jack nodded in agreement. He could definitely deal with normal.