A/N I can't believe it's been a full year of this story now! Thanks for all the kind words and support over the past year!

...

"Are you sure we can't take him with us?" I sat on the floor beside Teddy, who was busy practicing his latest developmental milestone: using the sofa to pull himself to his feet. "What if he starts walking and we miss his first steps?"

"Beth, we'll only be gone for a few days. He's not cruising yet, and he can't stand without holding onto something. He's not going to start walking in the next week."

"But I'll miss him." I pulled him into my lap and kissed the top of his head as he tried to squirm out of my arms.

"I'll miss him, too. But he'll have so much fun with Rosemary and Lee and Alina." He reached over and intertwined his fingers with mine. "Plus, think of how much fun we'll have with no one and nothing to interrupt us."

My cheeks warmed at the thought of what he had planned. "We do know how to have fun together."

"Exactly." He leaned in and kissed me. "Tomorrow morning, we're going to get on a plane, and then it's just us for five whole days."

I let go of Teddy, and he giggled as he used the sofa to pull himself to his feet again. "Look at you, Teddy Bear! You're getting so big." I glanced back at Jack. "When was the last time we had five whole days to ourselves?"

"Our honeymoon, probably. So, too long."

I chuckled. "Too long is right. You just had to go and get me pregnant right away."

"Yeah, yeah." He rolled his eyes. "As I recall, it took both of us to make him. And speaking of the little man, we should probably get him to bed now."

"Can we let him sleep in our room? Just for tonight."

"We already packed up the portable crib."

I gave him the best pleading look that I could muster. "Please?"

He sighed. "I'll go set it up. You go put him in his pajamas."

"Thank you, Jack. You're the best." I kissed him softly before he disappeared up the stairs. "Come on, Teddy Bear." I lifted him from the floor. "Let's go get ready for bed."

...

Jack poked his head into the nursery. "Are you ready to go?"

"Almost. I wanted to feed him one last time before we leave. He should be done soon." I glanced down at Teddy, brushing my fingers through his hair. He blinked sleepily, flexing his fingers on my chest. "I know we'll only be gone a few days, but I'm going to miss this."

"I know you will." He kissed my temple. "I'll go put our bags in the car. Take your time."

"Thank you, Jack." I squeezed his hand before he left the room. "Well, Teddy Bear, your daddy and I are going away for a few days, but I promise we'll be back soon. I'm going to miss you very much, my sweet boy. You'll get to stay with Auntie Rosemary and Uncle Lee, though, and I'll make sure they let me and your daddy talk to you every day. Do you promise to be good?"

He pulled away from me and met my eyes. "Mamamama." He smiled, showing off his new teeth that had appeared in the past few weeks.

"All done?"

In response, he snuggled into my shoulder.

"I love you, Jack Edward." I kissed the top of his head. "Let's go."

...

Jack squeezed my hand as the plane started to descend. "He'll be fine, Elizabeth."

"I know. It just feels strange knowing we're so far away from him."

"We can call Rosemary as soon as we get to the hotel."

"Sometimes I feel like you know me better than I know myself."

We were quiet for the remainder of the flight, just holding hands until the plane landed safely.

We got off the plane and made our way through the airport. It didn't take long to get through customs and grab our luggage.

Jack picked up the rental car, and we were on our way to the hotel.

"Jack, look at all these mountains. It's so beautiful here."

"You've barely seen any of it yet."

"And?"

"And there's so much more to see, so many places that are even more beautiful."

I leaned my forehead against the window, watching the scenery go by as we drove closer to the city.

...

I dropped my bag on the floor of the hotel room and immediately dialed Rosemary's number.

"Hi, Elizabeth."

"How is he?"

She laughed. "Glad you guys made it there okay. Teddy's fine. He took his food and his bottle fine, and he just went down for the night."

I let out a breath. "Did he give you any trouble?"

"No. He fussed a little when I was trying to get him to sleep, but I imagine that was because he was so tired. I'll let you know if anything comes up, I promise."

"Thank you, Rosemary."

"He really is a great baby. Lee and I are happy to watch him. You and Jack don't need to worry. Just enjoy this time you have to yourselves."

"We will. Thank you again. I'm sure I'll talk to you again soon."

"I figured as much." She laughed. "Now go be with your husband."

"Bye, Rosie."

I put my phone on the nightstand and sat on the edge of the bed.

"He's doing okay?" Jack looked up from his suitcase.

"She said he ate fine, and he's down for the night now."

"I told you he'd be fine."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah. So, what's the plan for this evening?"

"Well, since it's been a long day of traveling, I was thinking we could find a restaurant close by and then just come back here and relax. Or, if you're too tired to go out, we can just order some room service."

"Mm, room service sounds good." I lay back on the bed.

Jack lay beside me, propping himself up on his side. "Hi." He brushed his fingers against my cheek.

"Hi."

"I've missed you." He kissed my nose.

"I haven't gone anywhere."

"I mean I've missed having you all to myself. I love our son dearly, but sometimes it's nice to have time with just the two of us knowing that he won't be waiting for one of us to feed or change him. It's just you and me all night long. And all day tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day."

I pulled him toward me. "And just how will we occupy all that time?"

"I have some ideas." He touched his lips to mine, just barely. "Are you hungry?"

I tangled my fingers in his hair. "Food can wait."

...

I brushed my fingers across Jack's chest. "So far, I love Vancouver."

He laughed softly. "You know we can't just stay in the hotel the whole time."

"I mean, technically we could. No one is stopping us."

"As much as I like that idea, we came all this way, so we should get out at least a little."

"I guess. But not until tomorrow." I kissed his shoulder. "Can we order some food now? My stomach is about to start making some crazy noises."

He rolled away from me and reached for the room service menu on the table. "What sounds good?"

"Mm, pasta." I pulled the sheet up to my chin. "And cake. Do they have cake?"

"They do have cake. What do you want to drink?"

"Tea, please."

"Pasta, cake, and tea. Got it." He kissed my cheek.

I slipped from the bed and pulled Jack's shirt over my head.

"Where are you going?"

"I thought I'd take a walk around the hotel wearing nothing but your shirt." I smirked. "Relax, I'm just going to the bathroom, babe."

When I came back into the room, Jack was just hanging up the phone. "Food will be up soon."

"Good. Thanks for ordering it." I touched his cheek and walked toward the window, pulling back the curtain.

The sun was sinking behind the mountains, the sky fading to pink and orange.

"I just can't get over these mountains."

Jack stood behind me, resting his hands on my hips. "You say that like you've never seen mountains before."

"Well, I have, but never this close up."

"Haven't you seen the Alps?" He slid his arms around my waist, pulling me into his chest.

"From an airplane. That's different. These are right in front of me."

"I'll have to take you closer to them while we're here." He kissed the side of my neck. "But that'll require leaving this hotel room."

"If anything is going to get me out of this hotel room, it's probably the mountains."

...

"Babe." I nudged him gently.

He rolled over. "Hm?"

"It's almost ten o'clock. We should probably get up."

"Ten? That means it's almost noon at home. How did we sleep for so long?"

I curled into his side. "Well, if you recall, we did stay up pretty late last night."

He grinned and kissed me. "And it was totally worth it." He stretched. "Well, how about we shower, get dressed, find a place to get some brunch, and then see what kind of trouble we can get into the rest of the day?"

"Sounds perfect."

He kissed me again. "Have I told you lately how much I love you, Elizabeth Thornton?"

"I think you told me quite a few times last night," I smirked, "but feel free to keep telling me." I placed my hand on his cheek. "I love you, too, by the way."

Thirty minutes later, Jack stepped out of the bathroom in his boxers, drying his hair with a towel.

"Jack, come look." I held out my phone. "Clara had her baby a few hours ago. Abigail just sent me a picture."

He took the phone from me. "She's cute. She looks so little."

"Well, she weighs three pounds less than Teddy did was when he was born." I chuckled. "She's actually just under average size for a newborn."

"They named her Ally, right?"

"Mhmm. Ally Mae Flynn."

He kept staring at the picture, and I knew where his mind had gone.

"We'll have another one, just not yet. I'm getting there, though."

"Whenever you're ready." He handed my phone back to me and kissed me gently. "I just need to get dressed, and then we can head out."

...

"Jack, come over here."

"In a minute." He lifted the camera up again, continuing to snap photos of the scenery.

I sighed contentedly, looking across the water at the mountains. "It's so beautiful."

"I think it's even more beautiful than it was when I came here as a kid." Jack moved to my side, slipping his arm around my waist.

"Has it changed a lot since then?"

He shook his head. "Not really. It's more beautiful because you're here."

I wrapped my arms around him and buried my face in his chest. "You're such a flirt, Jack Thornton."

"And you're beautiful." He kissed the top of my head. "Let's keep walking."

He took my hand, and we continued to meander down the path.

"We need to bring Teddy up here when he's older."

"Definitely."

...

"You're quiet over there. What are you thinking about?"

"I've had a wonderful time the past few days, but I miss Teddy." While we kept our days full of sightseeing, hiking, and exploring the city, nothing was able to distract me from the fact that we had never been away from Teddy for so long.

"Just a few more hours, and we'll get him back."

I leaned my head on his shoulder as the plane accelerated down the runway. "Jack, thank you for this trip. I needed it."

"We both needed it." He took my hand. "We've had a difficult couple of months. We needed the break."

I felt a pang of sadness as I thought about the baby we lost. It had been over two months since the day we sat in the hospital room and listened to the doctor explain that there was no heartbeat, that our baby was gone.

We still hadn't told many people, just our parents and siblings, the Coulters, and Abigail. I didn't expect we would tell anyone else, though it was becoming easier to talk about it.

At this point, I would have been nearly halfway through my pregnancy. We would have been finding out if the baby was a boy or a girl—though I was still convinced that it had been another boy, little Owen. I would have told my students so they wouldn't be left wondering why my stomach was growing.

Getting away from the responsibilities of everyday life and spending time alone with Jack had given me a chance to process and heal. Though there was still an ache in my chest when I thought about what could have been, I felt like I could finally move forward.

I turned to face Jack and kissed his jaw. "I love you."

...

I had my seatbelt off and the car door open the second that Jack put the car in park.

"A little eager there?"

"I haven't seen our son since Monday, so yes, I'm eager."

I walked across the yard without bothering to see if Jack was following. I knocked on the door of Lee and Rosemary's house, almost shaking with excitement.

"Welcome back." Rosemary opened the door wider and ushered me into the house. "Lee's got him in the kitchen with Alina. Hi, Jack," she greeted him as he entered the house beside me.

Teddy was sitting in a high chair, his face covered in applesauce.

"Oh, hey, little man. Look who's here." Lee pointed at us.

Teddy grinned when he saw us. "Mamamama."

Lee wiped his face and lifted him from the high chair. "Let's go to mama, okay?" He passed him to me.

I held him against my shoulder. "Hi, Teddy Bear. I missed you so much. Did you have fun here?" I glanced back at Lee and Rosemary. "Thank you for watching him."

"Of course. We loved having him here."

"It gave us a little taste of what it'll be like when our little boy gets here." Rosemary placed her hands on her stomach and grinned.

"You're having a boy? That's wonderful."

"Congratulations, you guys."

"Thank you." She touched Teddy's hand. "Now, I know you're eager to get home and get settled back in with your little man here. We can talk later."

I hugged her carefully. "Thank you again."

Fifteen minutes later, Jack and I were curled up on our bed, Teddy snuggled between us.

"Don't get me wrong, I loved spending this week with you, but nothing beats this right here."

"I agree." He kissed the top of Teddy's head, then leaned in to press his lips to mine. "I love you."

"I love you more."