A/N Happy Holidays, everyone! This is the first of two Christmas themed chapters; the second one will be posted next week. I hope you enjoy!

...

I slipped my arm into Jack's as we walked, thankful that I no longer had a cast encasing my wrist. Everything had gone well in the weeks following my accident. The doctor wasn't sure what exactly had caused me to pass out, but he suspected that it was likely just a complication of the pregnancy.

The snow crunched beneath our feet as we continued down the sidewalk. "I'm so happy that our first Christmas together is a snowy one."

"Me too." I stopped walking and closed the gap between us. "I love snow."

"I love you." He kissed my hair. We continued walking in silence for a few moments.

"Just think, next Christmas, we'll have a six-month-old baby." I put my hand on my stomach, thinking about the baby that was growing inside me.

"I can't wait."

"You know, we'll need to start telling people when we get back from St. Louis. I know we've already told most of our friends, but I'll need to tell my students and coworkers. I'm already starting to show a little." The tiny bump was invisible under my coat, but I knew it was there.

We stopped at the end of the street and turned back toward home. "Are you nervous to tell your parents?"

"Not as nervous as I was to tell them we got engaged four months after we met and were getting married three months later."

He laughed quietly. "We did move very quickly."

"Also, you're the one who got me pregnant by accident, so if they're going to be upset with anyone, it'll be you." I winked at him and laughed.

"I know you're joking, but seriously, what if they are upset with me?"

"Jack, they adore you. Everything will be fine. Besides, they'd have to be upset with me, too, because obviously it took both of us to make this baby. Plus, they can't be angry about getting another grandchild."

"That's true." He glanced down at his watch. "Oh, we need to hurry and get changed or we'll be late for church."

...

I stood in front of the mirror, pulling my dress tight against my belly. I smiled at the evidence of the life growing inside of me, the life that Jack and I had created together.

"Elizabeth, we need to get going." He poked his head into the bathroom.

"Jack, look." My eyes were drawn back to my belly. "Obviously, I've known that our baby is in there, but now it's even more real."

He put his hands on my waist, brushing his thumbs across my stomach. "You are so beautiful, Beth. Thank you for carrying our child." He ducked down to kiss my stomach, then stood and kissed my forehead. "So beautiful."

I put my hand on top of his and leaned up to kiss him. "Let's get to church."

Abigail smiled as we slipped into the pew beside her. "Hello, you two. I didn't expect to see you tonight. I thought you were going to your parents' house for Christmas."

"We're heading up there tomorrow afternoon. We decided we wanted to spend our first Christmas morning with just the two of us."

"That sounds nice. Enjoy the time alone while you can."

Jack squeezed my hand, and I touched my stomach lightly. I leaned on Jack's shoulder as the service began, my hand still on my stomach. I loved hearing his voice in my ear as we sang familiar Christmas hymns. Butterflies filled my stomach when he reached over to steady my hand as we lit our candles for the final hymn. I loved that he still stirred up those feelings, even months after our wedding.

We were quiet as we walked toward the car, feeling completely at peace.

...

I woke with my head resting on Jack's chest. The fire burned low in the fireplace. I rolled onto my side and groaned, stiff from sleeping on the floor.

Jack stirred. "Mm, good morning." He kissed me gently.

"Morning." I kissed him back. "Merry Christmas."

He stretched. "Sleeping down here seemed like a good idea last night. Not so much this morning."

"We should probably get up so it doesn't get any worse."

"Mm, five more minutes." He pulled me closer.

Bronte ran over and shoved her head between us. I laughed as she covered my face with sloppy kisses.

"I guess it must be time for breakfast." I kissed Jack one more time before I stood up and moved toward the kitchen.

Bronte and Rip followed me, waiting to be fed. I heard Jack groan from the living room as he got up. I laughed softly. He was right; sleeping by the fireplace was better in theory than in reality. I filled the dog bowls and pulled cinnamon rolls from the fridge.

Jack entered the room, wrapping his arms around me and kissing my neck. "Mm, what are you making?"

"I thought we'd have some cinnamon rolls since it's Christmas. It was a tradition in my family when I was growing up: cinnamon rolls for Christmas and Easter."

"That sounds like a delicious tradition."

I placed the already-made rolls onto a pan and slid it into the oven. "Maybe once our kids are a bit older, we can all make the cinnamon rolls from scratch."

"Can I wear an apron while we make these cinnamon rolls from scratch?"

I scrunched my nose and smiled. "I won't let you help unless you're wearing an apron." I turned to face him, kissing him softly. "Our kids are going to think we're so weird."

"Well, good, because I think our job as parents is to make sure our kids think we're weird." He grinned and kissed me again. "How long until the cinnamon rolls are ready?"

"About fifteen minutes. Why?"

He was quiet for a moment, looking lost in thought. "It can wait."

"What can wait?"

He gave me a mischievous smile. "Oh, don't worry. You'll like it."

My face warmed. "Hmm, maybe after we eat, I'll put your present on."

"Elizabeth Thornton…" He kissed me deeply. "Mm, maybe we should just skip the cinnamon rolls."

"Patience, babe."

...

I opened my eyes slowly. "Mm, Jack. You weren't supposed to let me fall asleep."

He brushed the hair from my face. "You looked so peaceful. I didn't want to wake you. Besides, you need to sleep for the baby."

"But we have so much to do. We need to get everything in the car and drop the dogs next door and get on the road."

"Shh." He pulled me to his chest, moving his hand up and down my back. "Relax. Everything will get done. We'll get there."

I closed my eyes again and took a deep breath. "Okay, enough relaxing. We need to get up."

Jack just smiled and shook his head as he watched me slip out of the bed and pull on my robe.

Later that evening, we were nearing our destination.

Snowflakes fell, illuminated by the streetlights, as we drove down the street toward my parents' house. Christmas music played softly on the radio. The houses we passed were adorned with colored lights and wreaths.

"My mom said Julie should be there when we arrive. Vi and Lionel are coming up tomorrow with the baby." I smiled, bringing my hand to my stomach. "It's crazy to think that next year, we'll be bringing our baby."

Jack squeezed my hand and smiled but didn't say anything.

"Okay, you turn left up here, and then you'll follow that street all the way to the house."

A few moments later, we pulled in the driveway. Jack put the car in park and stared at the house. He took a deep breath. "I knew you grew up with money, but this house…"

"I know. It's a big house. Come on, they're waiting for us."

He walked around the car and opened my door.

"Thank you. Hey," I put my hands on his arms. "I love you."

He leaned in and kissed me. "I love you, too."

"Time to go tell my family we're having a honeymoon baby."

"Oh, they're going to hate me." He laughed and put his arm around me. We slowly made our way to the front door.

"We don't have to tell them right away. I wore a loose sweater on purpose. Maybe right before we go to bed?"

He nodded.

Julie opened the door before we had a chance to ring the bell. She pulled me into a hug. "Elizabeth, I've missed you."

"I've missed you, too."

"Jack, it's good to see you again."

"You, too, Julie."

She ushered us through the door. "Mom and dad are in the living room."

Jack followed us through the entryway and into the living room.

"Jack and Elizabeth are here."

My mom immediately pulled me into her embrace. "It's so good to see you, sweetheart." She turned to Jack, pulling him into her arms as well. "You, too, Jack."

"I hope you've been taking good care of our daughter." My dad shook his hand.

"Yes, sir."

"Why don't you take off your coats and get comfortable?"

I held my breath as I handed my coat to my dad, praying that they wouldn't notice my belly before I had the chance to tell them about the baby.

Jack squeezed my hand, and I released my breath, relieved that my baggy sweater seemed to work at hiding the small bump.

After dinner, we all sat in the living room by the fire, watching a Christmas movie on TV. I fell asleep on the sofa, my head on Jack's lap.

"Hey, Beth." Jack touched my cheek. "Why don't we go up to bed?"

"Mm, but I'm comfortable here."

He leaned in and kissed me softly. "You'll be more comfortable upstairs."

"Okay." I sat up slowly. "Should we tell them?"

"If you want to."

I stood and took a deep breath. "I think Jack and I are going to head up to bed. But first, we have some news."

My father put down his newspaper and looked up. Julie's eyes lit up, as if she already knew what I was going to say. My mother put down her knitting.

"I'm pregnant."

"Congratulations!" Julie jumped up and threw her arms around me.

My mother smiled. "That is great news. When are you due?"

"June."

"That soon?" My mother raised her eyebrows.

Jack put his arm around me protectively. I shrugged. "Well, you know, sometimes things don't go according to plan." I covered my mouth while I yawned. "I'm sorry, but can we talk more in the morning? I'm exhausted."

We bid everyone good night before I led Jack up the stairs and down the hall.

I opened the door to my childhood bedroom. Jack was quiet, walking slowly through the room, looking at the pictures that hung on the walls. My parents hadn't changed the room when I moved away. I was fairly certain they had hoped I would change my mind and move back home.

I changed into my pajamas and slipped into the bed. Jack followed soon after.

"I can't believe you grew up here and willingly moved somewhere like Hope Valley."

I shrugged. "It was always comfortable here, but I needed to get out of my comfort zone. Moving to Hope Valley was the second best decision I've ever made."

"Second best?" He looked at me curiously. "What was the best?"

"Marrying you." I kissed him.

He pulled me close. "I love you."

...

I snuggled into Jack's chest, pulling the comforter higher. "Mm, this is weird."

"What is?"

"When I was growing up, I wasn't allowed to have boys in my room. Not that I ever wanted to bring a boy in here, but still. And now, not only are you in my room, you're in my bed. It just feels like I'm breaking a rule or something."

He lifted my chin. "What if I do this?" He pressed his lips to mine.

"Well, that just breaks all the rules." I kissed him again. "You might have to arrest yourself." I smirked.

"Worth it." He smiled and kissed me more deeply.

There was a knock on the door, and Jack pulled back, sighing.

"Who is that?"

I put a finger to his lips, urging him to stay quiet.

"Elizabeth, I know you're awake in there."

"Julie, can this wait?"

Jack brushed his fingers through my hair. "Tell her you have more important things to do in here."

"I just wanted to talk to you before Viola got here."

"Give me a minute, Jules." I kissed Jack softly. "Sorry. If I don't go out there, she'll come in."

He pretended to pout. "What am I supposed to do now?"

"I don't know. Go back to sleep. I'll be back in a little while."

I slipped a robe on and stepped into the hallway. Julie led me down to her room and motioned for me to join her on the bed.

"So what is so important that you had to pull me away from my husband?"

"I just wanted some time to talk. I haven't seen you since the wedding, and now you're pregnant. There's just a lot to catch up on."

I sighed. "Let me get this straight: you made me get up and come over here, and you don't even have anything important you want to talk about?"

"I think your being pregnant is pretty important. Before the wedding, you told me that you two had decided to wait a little while to have kids. What happened to that plan?"

I brought my hands to my stomach. "Well, we had talked about possibly trying once he got back from his work trip, but it turns out I was already pregnant before he left. I guess we just weren't being as careful as we thought we were."

"Can I?" She held out her hand.

I moved my hands. "Sure, but you can't feel anything yet. I haven't even felt anything."

She gingerly placed her hand on my stomach. "I can't believe you kept this a secret for so long. You're already showing."

"Jack and I decided we wanted to wait until we could tell you guys in person. Speaking of Jack, can I please get back to him now?"

"But we've barely talked," Julie whined.

"Fine. What do you want to know?"

"Is it a boy or a girl? Do you have a name picked yet? Did you get pregnant on your honeymoon? Or maybe before the wedding? June seems awfully soon."

"Wow. Um." I took a deep breath. "We don't know what we're having, and we still haven't decided if we're going to find out before the baby's born. We have discussed names, and we've gotten the list narrowed down, but we haven't chosen any for sure yet. Do I really need to answer the last one?"

"If you don't, I'm going to assume it's because you got pregnant before the wedding and you don't want to admit it."

"Julie Thatcher!" My eyes grew wide. "I definitely did not get pregnant before the wedding, but it's really none of your business." I stood up slowly. "I'm going back to my room now."

"Elizabeth, don't be mad. I was just curious."

I shook my head. "I'm not mad. I just would rather be with Jack right now than talking about this."

I returned to my room and collapsed on the bed, sighing. Jack pulled me into his arms. "That bad?"

"She asked me if I got pregnant before the wedding. What kind of question is that? It's no one's business when or why I got pregnant."

He kissed the top of my head. "I'm sorry."

"I think I'm going to take a bath now. You can join me if you want."

He chuckled. "You always say that, as if I would ever turn you down."

...

An hour later, we headed downstairs, following the smell of French toast and bacon.

"Good morning, you two. How did you sleep?"

"We slept great, thanks." Jack put one hand on my back as we stepped up to fill our plates.

"That's good." My mother filled two glasses with orange juice and set them on the table for us. "Viola and Lionel should be here soon with the baby. I can't believe that, this time next year, I'll have two grandchildren." She touched my arm, glancing at my stomach, which was much more prominent in my long-sleeved T-shirt than it had been in the sweater I wore the previous day.

I put one hand on my stomach and smiled. "I can't wait." Suddenly, I felt a faint fluttering in my stomach. I gasped, nearly dropping my plate as I brought my other hand to my stomach.

"Beth, is everything okay?" Jack looked at me, concern covering his face.

"Everything is wonderful." I met his eyes and grinned. "The baby moved. It was just a tiny little flutter, but I felt it! I was just telling Julie this morning that I hadn't felt anything yet." I slowly moved my hands across my stomach as I felt the flutter again. I laughed softly. "This is amazing. Merry Christmas to me."