A/N Thank you all for your patience. Even though I don't have as much time to write, I'm trying to get a few sentences written here and there so I can keep getting new chapters out to you. I still have lots of plans for this sweet little family, so I hope you stick with me!

...

I peeked into the bedroom. Jack was sitting in the glider with Teddy resting against his shoulder.

"How did he do?"

Jack reached over and held up the bottle for me to see. "He took about half of it, and he only fussed a little bit right at the very beginning."

"Not too bad for his first time with the bottle." I sat on the edge of the bed. "It was strange knowing someone else was feeding him. It's going to take some time for me to get used to that."

"If it's any consolation, I think he wished you were feeding him. Your face is much nicer to look at than mine is."

I laughed softly. "We'll give him a few minutes, and if he seems like he's still hungry, I'll feed him some more. We can try the bottle again tomorrow, then maybe up him to two feedings from the bottle the next day. Ease him into it since we still have a month before I go back to work."

"Sounds like a plan. And just think of how much more you'll be able to get done if someone else can take over some of the feedings." He passed Teddy up to me.

I snuggled the baby against my chest. "Maybe I can finally find the end of the never-ending laundry." I laughed. "But even better, we can go out just the two of us again."

He stood up and kissed me. "I'll have to start planning some date nights, then."

I grinned. "I can't wait."

...

"Babe, can you burp him and change his diaper when he's finished? I'm afraid I won't have enough time to get ready."

"Sure." He stripped down to his boxers and undershirt before pulling a suit from the closet. "Do you need me to get your dress out for you?"

I shook my head, blushing when I noticed the outline of his muscles beneath his tight shirt. "No. I already got it out. Thank you, though." I glanced down at Teddy and noticed that he had fallen asleep while he ate. I touched his cheek, and he woke briefly before closing his eyes once more. I laughed quietly. "Well, I guess he's done."

Jack lifted him from my arms. "My mom should be here in about half an hour. I'll let her know where the milk and bottles are. You just take your time."

"Okay. Thank you." I kissed him softly before I headed into the bathroom to take a quick shower.

I looked in the mirror after I slipped into my dress. I hadn't worn the navy blue dress since my weekend away with Jack back when we were dating, and I was a little worried that it wouldn't fit anymore. It was a little tighter than I remembered, but I was pleasantly surprised that it zipped up fairly easily.

I put on a touch of makeup, pinned back my hair, and slid into a pair of low heels. It felt nice to dress up for the first time since Teddy was born. It seemed like I had been living in nothing but shorts and Jack's old t-shirts.

I couldn't help but wonder what Jack would think when he saw me. I could hear him downstairs, laughing with his mom.

"Beth, are you almost ready?" His voice floated up to me.

"I'm coming."

He grew silent when I came down the stairs, his eyes growing wide.

"What? Is something wrong with my dress?" I smoothed the skirt, trying to see if there was a rip or stain I didn't notice.

"No, nothing is wrong." He moved in front of me, running his hands slowly up and down my arms. "You look absolutely beautiful. In fact," he leaned in, his breath warm on my face and his voice low, "maybe we should just stay home… go back upstairs…"

I shivered and felt my cheeks redden. "Jack Thornton!"

He chuckled. "You have to admit it's a good idea, though."

"Well…maybe." I felt the corners of my lips turn up and butterflies rise in my stomach. "But now is not the time. We're already running late, and I think they would notice if we weren't there. Besides, your mom is here."

"Good point. Let's get going."

"Let me say bye to Teddy first."

I found our son cuddled up in his grandma's arms.

"Thank you for watching him for us, Charlotte."

"Anytime, Lizzy. You look lovely, by the way."

"Thank you." I reached out and stroked Teddy's cheek. He turned to look at me, one corner of his mouth raising up slightly in a half-smile. "Hey, Teddy Bear. Daddy and I will be back later. You be good for grandma Charlotte." I glanced back at Charlotte. "We should be home by nine."

"Go, have fun."

Jack practically had to pull me away from our son and to the car.

"It feels strange to be going somewhere without him." I glanced toward the backseat, expecting to see a car seat there, but finding it empty instead. It felt like I was missing a part of me.

"He'll be fine with my mom, and it'll just be a few hours."

"I know. It's just weird. He's practically been attached to me for the past month and a half. I don't know how I'll handle being away from him all day when I go back to work."

He reached across the center console and squeezed my hand. "You can do it."

...

We reached the church with just minutes to spare. Jesse and Clara were married in a brief and lovely ceremony, surrounded by their closest friends. After they shared their first dance, Jack led me onto the dance floor.

I leaned my head against his chest, resting my hands against the back of his shoulders. He spread his fingers across the small of my back. Together, we swayed slowly back and forth.

"It's been far too long since I danced with you, Mrs. Thornton." His breath tickled my ear.

"I agree. We need to do this more often."

He nodded. "Also," he kissed my temple, "I just want you to know that you are, by far, the most beautiful woman here tonight."

My cheeks warmed. "You're just saying that because I'm your wife."

"I'm saying it because it's the truth."

"Sweet man." I stood on my toes to kiss him. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

"For the record, you're the most handsome man here." I ran my thumb across the back of his neck, just barely brushing across his hair. "I need to take you more places where you have to wear a suit." I moved my hands across his chest, tugging gently on his lapels. "Is your mom staying the night at our place?"

"No. I offered, but she said she needs to get home because she has something going on at her church tomorrow."

"Good. I mean, not that I don't enjoy having her around, but…"

He chuckled. "I know what you mean."

My skin was tingling beneath his fingers. The longer we stayed on the dance floor, the more I wanted to get home so we could be alone. "Do you think it would be acceptable for us to bow out now?"

He glanced around the room. "Yeah, it looks like it's winding down, anyway. Plus, we have Teddy as our excuse for needing to get home."

He gathered our things while I went to congratulate the Flynns and say goodbye.

"Thank you for coming, Elizabeth. And thank you for your encouragement." She rested her hand on her stomach when she was sure that no one else was looking. "You were right. She wasn't upset at all. She's so excited."

"I knew everything would be okay." I hugged her. "Congratulations, again. On the wedding and the little one."

We were home by a quarter to nine. Teddy woke when Charlotte passed him to me, and he immediately started crying.

I thanked her one more time before excusing myself to feed him and put him back to bed.

By the time Jack made his way to our room, Teddy was content and sleeping, his belly now full. I was leaning back on the bed, having changed out of my dress.

Jack grinned at me and loosened his tie, quickly shedding his jacket. "It's just the two of us now." He crawled on top of the quilt beside me.

"Perfect." I linked my hands behind his neck and pulled him toward me, a smile playing on my own face.

...

Jack's fingers danced across my bare skin under my shirt. "Beth, we need to talk about something."

I rolled over to meet his face. "That sounds serious."

"It is." He sighed. "I know there's never a good time to bring this up, so I'm sorry about that."

"Babe, just tell me."

"You know my job can be dangerous."

I nodded, but said nothing. I was growing concerned about where this conversation was headed. He didn't bring up the dangers of his job unless something happened.

"If anything ever happens to me, there are letters for you and Teddy in the drawer in the entryway table."

"But Jack—"

He held up his hand to stop me. "I know what you're going to say. You can't say that nothing is going to happen to me, because we don't know that. I got shot a few weeks ago. That's actually when I decided to write them. I pray every single day that you'll never have to read those, but they're there. I just want you to know that."

"I don't want to talk about this." I touched my fingers to his chest, trying not to think about the possibility that he could be taken from me someday. I lightly ran my hands across the fading bruises, physical reminders of the dangers he faced in his job.

"We have to be able to talk about this kind of stuff, Beth. It's my life, it's our life."

"Not right now. It's not the time." I pushed away from him, rolling onto my side. I really was not in the mood to talk about this.

"There's never a good time." He touched my shoulder. "We really should've had this conversation a long time ago, probably before we got married. You need to know what to do if something ever happens to me."

I slipped out of the bed, pulling on my robe and walking out of the room without another word, ignoring his voice calling out to me.

I knew that I was being a little ridiculous. Jack was right that we needed to have that conversation, but I just couldn't deal with it in that moment. Obviously, I knew that Jack's job could be dangerous. I knew something bad could happen to him. But I had to keep those thoughts out of my mind, or I would drive myself crazy with fear.

I sank down on the floor of Teddy's room. I had pushed the thoughts further away since Teddy had been born. I loathed the idea that my son could someday lose his father.

I had seen the effects that the loss of Jack's father had had on him and Charlotte. Though I didn't know them before the loss, it was obvious that it had completely altered their lives. They were not the same people they were when Thomas Thornton was alive. I hated the thought that Teddy and I could be put through that.

"Elizabeth, please come back to bed." Jack stood in the doorway, illuminated by the moonlight seeping through the curtains. "We don't have to talk about it anymore tonight, but we do need to talk about it soon."

"Why are you so adamant that we have this discussion?"

He sighed and took a seat beside me. "I have to go out of town again."

I felt like I had been punched in the gut. "When?"

"Monday. For two weeks."

"Jack, that's in two days."

He put his hand on my leg. "I know. I wasn't supposed to go this time. It was supposed to be Harris, but he came down with the flu. They told me this morning. I don't have a choice."

"I'm guessing it's dangerous?" My stomach tightened as I waited for his answer. It felt like an eternity before he responded.

He shrugged. "Pretty much every time I go out of town, there's a potential for danger. But like I say to you every time I go: I will do everything in my power to come back to you."

"I don't want you to go."

"I know." He slipped his arm around my shoulder, pulling me closer. "But, the more I do assignments like this, the better chance I have of being promoted to a position with far fewer out-of-town assignments."

"Really?" I turned to meet his gaze for the first time since I had walked out of our bedroom.

He nodded. "Mhmm. One of my superiors is looking to move up even further in the next couple of months, and they've already said I'm a good candidate to replace him."

"Less danger?" I entwined my fingers in his.

He squeezed my hand. "Well, I would still go out on patrols and help out with arrests, but yes, there's probably less danger involved overall."

"I still don't want you to go, but knowing that it can help in the long run makes it a little better."

"I know what can make it even better." He kissed the top of my head, then tilted my chin up until he could brush his lips against mine.

"What?"

"Making the most of every minute we have before I have to leave." He kissed me again before standing up and holding his hand out to me. "So what do you say? Will you come back to bed now?"

Wordlessly, I slid my hand into his. He helped me up, and I followed him back to our room.

...

A/N I know I've said this before, but here's another reminder that Jack will always be okay in my stories :)