"Three months?! That's not nearly enough time to plan a wedding, Elizabeth!"

I smiled. Rosemary's reaction to the wedding date was exactly what I had expected.

"It's plenty of time, Rosie. Honestly, I'd marry him tomorrow if we could put a wedding together by then."

"Why so soon? Is there something I need to know?" She put her hand on her stomach and raised her eyebrows.

"No no no. Nothing like that." I laughed softly, feeling my cheeks color. "It's just that, Jack's accident was a reminder of how quickly things can change. The more we talked, the more we decided we didn't want to wait. We actually even talked about eloping."

"Oh, no. You absolutely cannot elope. I will not let that happen."

"Don't worry, we decided against eloping. We want a real wedding, with everyone there."

"Well, I guess we need to get busy with planning, then."

"Rosie." I put my hands on top of hers. "We don't want a big wedding. Just family and a few close friends, probably at the church. Besides, you don't need to be stressing about this, especially while you're pregnant." I motioned toward her stomach.

"I'm fine, Elizabeth. We're fine." She rubbed her stomach.

"By the way, you'd better let that little girl know she's not allowed to come early. I know it's really close to your due date, but I need you at my wedding."

She smirked. "I have a feeling she'll come when she's good and ready, but I'll do my best to keep her in until after we get you and Jack down the aisle."

Abigail came over to refill our water glasses. "Hey, ladies. I didn't see you two come in." She looked at Rosemary. "How's little Coulter doing?"

She smiled as she touched her stomach. "Good. Sitting right on my bladder. Speaking of which…" She stood and excused herself to go to the bathroom.

Abigail slid into the spot Rosemary just vacated. "How's Jack doing?"

"He's good. He's moving around a lot better now."

"That's good to hear. And how are you? I'm sure the past few weeks haven't been the easiest for you."

"I'm doing well. It was definitely difficult when he was in the hospital, but I've really enjoyed staying with him the past few days. It's given us a lot of time to talk and plan."

"Wedding plans?" She raised her eyebrows.

I couldn't help the smile that spread across my face. "We're getting married the first Friday in September. We'd really like you to be there, Abigail."

"Of course. I wouldn't miss it." She reached over and squeezed my hand. "I'm so happy for you, Elizabeth. And to think, you were so adamant that nothing was going to happen between you two."

I laughed. "Yeah, I'm glad I changed my mind."

...

Jack was sitting on the couch when I walked in, his leg propped up on a pillow on the coffee table.

"How'd she take it?"

I set down my bag and joined him on the sofa. "Exactly as well as we expected. I finally convinced her that she doesn't need to go overboard with planning."

"Wow, how did you manage to do that?"

I shrugged. "I just reminded her that she is supposed to keep her stress level down while she's pregnant."

He laughed quietly. "I bet she took that well."

"Um, speaking of, she may have asked if I was pregnant…"

His eyes widened. "Why on earth would she ask you that?"

I leaned my head against his shoulder. "She was just wondering if there was a reason why we want to get married so soon."

"And she immediately thought you must be pregnant?"

"I don't know how Rosemary's brain works." I laughed. "But, you know, it did get me thinking. We haven't even talked about that yet. Do you want to have kids?"

He took my hand, brushing his thumb against my fingers. "Yeah, I do."

"How soon?"

"Honestly? I'd be happy having kids right away. But if you want to wait a while, that's okay, too."

"I think-"

I was cut off when Bronte jumped onto the sofa, licking Jack's face. He laughed, pushing her away.

"Bee, get down." I shooed her from the couch and gave her a stern look. "I'm the only one who gets to kiss him." I smiled and pressed my lips to his. "Right?"

He chuckled, turning his body to face me. He brushed his lips against my forehead and nose before bringing them to my lips. "Right." He kissed me again, more deeply this time.

...

"Hey, Jack?" I glanced up from my plate to meet his eyes. "I just realized that we got a bit…distracted earlier," my cheeks flushed at the memory of his lips on mine, "and we never really finished our conversation."

"You mean the one about our future children?" He raised his eyebrows.

"Yes." The corners of my mouth rose into a smile. "That one. So, you said you'd be happy with whatever timeline?"

He nodded.

"Well, I was thinking maybe we should wait for at least a little bit. I mean, we're both young, so we don't really have a reason to rush. We've moved pretty quickly with everything else in our relationship, so maybe now we should take our time."

"Okay."

"Are you sure you're okay with waiting?"

"Elizabeth, I am okay with whatever you're comfortable with." He reached across the table and squeezed my hand. "You're the one who will carry the baby for nine months, so I will wait until you're ready for that."

"Okay, good."

We were silent for a few minutes while we ate.

"Jack?"

"Hmm?" He pushed his plate away and looked up at me.

"I really do love the idea of having kids with you. I just think we should enjoy some time with just the two of us. Maybe we can start trying in six months or a year. Statistically, it will probably take a few months once we start trying, though, so I also don't want to wait too long."

"Oh, statistically, eh? Very romantic."

I rolled my eyes, and he winked. He held out his hand. I took it, and he pulled me into his lap.

He leaned in and kissed me. "I can't wait to have kids with you someday."

He moved his hands around my waist, resting them on my stomach. I felt butterflies as I imagined what it would be like to carry his child inside of me. I put my hands on top of his for a moment.

"How many do you want?" I reached across the table for my glass.

"Kids? I don't know. Five or six, maybe."

I nearly choked on my water. "Six children?"

He shrugged. "I've always wanted a big family. It was just me and my mom and my brother for so much of my life."

"How about we start with one and then go from there?"

"Okay." He kissed me again. "Truthfully, I just want you to be happy. So, however many kids you're comfortable with is perfectly fine with me."

"Thank you, Jack." I relaxed into him, relishing the feeling of his arms around me.

He buried his face in my hair. His hands still rested on my stomach, his thumbs slowly moving back and forth.

"Jack?" I took his hands in mine. "There's nothing in there yet."

He laughed softly. "The key word there being yet." He brushed his lips against my temple, my cheek, my neck.

"Jack…"

He turned my face to his, pressing his lips against mine.

"Mm, Jack." I put my hands on his chest, pushing him away. "As much as I love that, we need to stop before we do end up with a baby in me."

I moved back to my own chair, smiling shyly.

He ran his hand across his face. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I push things, too." I sighed, wishing I was back in his arms. "You know, maybe we should just rethink the whole eloping idea."

He smiled and touched my cheek. "Elizabeth, we talked about this. We want a real wedding, with our friends and family there."

"You're right. September will be here before we know it."

...

After a week, we decided that Jack was well enough that I didn't need to stay at his house anymore. I loved that he was getting better, but I wished that I still had an excuse to stay with him. The next few months were going to be long.

One of Jack's coworkers had brought him some paperwork he could do from home, so he wouldn't miss out on too much work. That made it a little easier to leave him alone.

I packed my bag and headed back to my house. I hadn't even been home for five minutes before the doorbell rang.

"Mom? What are you doing here?" I hugged her as she stepped into the house.

"Your father and I decided that, since you and Jack couldn't come to us, we would come to you." She noticed my bag sitting against the wall. "Are you taking a trip?"

"Oh, um." I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, color filling my cheeks. "I've actually been staying at Jack's house while he's been recovering. I just came from there."

She raised her eyebrows but said nothing more.

"There's my favorite middle daughter." My father set down their suitcases and embraced me.

"Hi, dad. It's good to see you guys."

"I hope you don't mind us dropping by for a little while."

"Of course not. I'm always happy to see you two." I looked around, realizing my sister wasn't there. "Where's Julie?"

"She decided to extend her stay in London. She's really enjoying helping Viola prepare for the baby."

I ushered them into the living room, where we all sat down. "Do you think Viola will be up to traveling by the beginning of September?"

"Is there a reason why she needs to travel then?" My mother looked at me knowingly.

"Jack and I have decided that the wedding will be the first Friday in September."

"The first Friday in September? That's only…?"

"Ten weeks away," I finished for her. "I know it's really soon, but Jack and I discussed it, and that's really the best time for us. His leg will be in the cast until the end of July at the earliest. Then in August, I'll be dealing with everything with school starting, so I don't need the stress of a wedding on top of that. We figured the beginning of September makes the most sense. I'll already have a three-day weekend for Labor Day, so I won't have to take off as much work. And it gives us enough time to get things planned without having a really long engagement."

"Are you sure you two aren't rushing into this?" My father finally spoke up.

My stomach tightened as I prepared for him to give me all the reasons why he didn't want us to marry so soon.

"You've known him for, what, four months? And we haven't even officially met him. Would it really make a difference if you waited until the winter or spring?"

"I know it seems like everything has moved really quickly with us, and it has. But I know from the bottom of my heart that he is the man I am supposed to marry. We just don't want to wait any longer than we have to."

He put his hand on mine. "I still feel like it's a little soon, but I know you well enough to know that, once you're set on something, it takes a lot to change your mind."

I laughed softly. "I'm definitely not going to change my mind about this."

Bronte walked over and nudged my hand.

"Oh, sorry, Bee. I forgot I haven't fed you yet." I turned back to my parents. "Why don't you go get settled in the guest room and then we can figure out what to do for dinner?"

"Will Jack be joining us?"

"No. He has a lot of paperwork to catch up on, so he was planning on doing that this evening. I'll let him know you're here, though, and we can plan something for tomorrow."

...

I lay in bed, unable to sleep. I had spent the last week sleeping in Jack's house, and it felt strange to be back in my own bed, without Jack beside me. Even though I had been adamant about staying in separate rooms, more often than not, I had ended up in his room at some point in the night.

I dialed his number, hoping he was awake.

"Beth?" There was concern in his voice. "Why are you calling so late? Is everything okay?"

I spoke quietly, so I wouldn't disturb my parents. "I can't sleep." I sighed. "I miss you."

"You just saw me a few hours ago."

"I know. My bed feels too empty, though." I rolled onto my side. "I knew we should've stuck with the separate bedrooms thing."

He laughed. "Yeah, we didn't follow that rule very well. If it makes you feel any better, I'm having a hard time falling asleep without you here, too."

I smiled. "Ten more weeks."

"Ten weeks sounds like an eternity right now."

"I know." I yawned. "Hey, Jack?"

"Hmm?"

"Will you sing to me until I fall asleep?"

"Anything for you."

I put my phone on speaker and finally dozed off to the soft sound of Jack's voice.