I stood in the entryway with Jack, Teddy resting against my shoulder.
"Are you sure you have to leave, babe?" I touched Jack's cheek.
A couple of days after Teddy's birthday, Jack found out he would be going on another work assignment out of town. Neither of us was thrilled with the prospect. He hadn't had to go on any out of town assignments since he had been promoted just before Thanksgiving. The last time he had left, Teddy was just a tiny little baby.
He pulled me into his arms and kissed the top of my head. "You know I don't want to go. I'd much rather stay here with you and Teddy. It's just for two nights though, and I'll be home on Wednesday. Plus, it's a training, not a case, so there's no chance I'll have to stay longer."
"And you'll call?"
"Of course. As often as I can."
Teddy reached toward him, and I passed him to Jack.
"Hi there, buddy. I have to leave for a few days, but I'll be home really soon, okay? You be good for mama."
Teddy leaned forward and gave him a sloppy kiss on his cheek. "Dada."
Jack chuckled and kissed the top of his head. "I love you, Teddy Thornton."
I touched his arm. "Hey, Jack? Are you fine if I tell Abigail about the pregnancy? It's getting harder to hide it."
I looked down at my stomach, resting my hand on the small bump that had grown quite a bit in the week and a half since Teddy's birthday. I was already showing more than I had at the same point in my pregnancy with Teddy, and I was struggling to find loose T-shirts and dresses that could hide the bump. Jack put his hand beside mine.
"If you're ready to tell her, then I have no problem with that. You can tell all of our friends, if you want to."
I took our son from him. "Okay, you need to get going."
"Take care of yourself." He kissed me softly. "I love you, Elizabeth."
"I love you, too. Stay safe."
"I will. I'll let you know when I make it."
He kissed me once more before stepping through the front door.
"Well, Teddy Bear, what should we do today?"
He reached for the door. "Dada."
"I know. You want your daddy. He'll be back soon, though. How about we go play outside?"
...
I sighed when the sound of Teddy crying came over the baby monitor, waking me. I slipped out of bed and traipsed across the hall.
"What's wrong Teddy Bear?"
He lay in his crib, big tears rolling down his cheeks as he whimpered.
"Do you miss your daddy? I miss him, too." I lifted him from the crib. "How about we go snuggle for a while?" I rubbed his back as I made my way back to my room.
Even after I settled on the bed and leaned him against my chest, he continued crying.
I grabbed my phone from the nightstand and pulled up a picture of Jack. As soon as Teddy saw it, he stopped crying and reached toward the screen.
"That's all you wanted, huh? You just wanted to see your daddy." I kissed the top of his head. "I love you, Teddy. Are you ready to go back to bed now?"
"Mama." He grabbed my shirt, leaning further into me.
"Not yet? Okay. We'll just stay here for a little while longer."
I let him look at a few more pictures of Jack and told him some stories about when we were dating, then settled him in to nurse. Half an hour later, he was finally asleep again.
I stared at him as his little chest rose and fell with his breath. He looked just like Jack in his sleep, from the way his lips parted slightly to the single hand he tucked up by his face.
I kissed his forehead. "Sleep tight, Teddy Bear. Daddy will be home soon."
...
I was awakened the next morning by a tiny hand on my cheek. Teddy was leaning on Jack's pillow, a smile covering his face.
"Good morning, sweet boy." I smiled back at him. "Are you hungry? Do you want some breakfast?"
He nodded.
"How about we go have breakfast at Abigail's?"
He nodded again.
I picked him up and set him on the floor so I could rifle through my closet. "Okay, but we'll have to get dressed first."
I finally found a dress that mostly hid my belly—I didn't want Abigail to notice before I had a chance to tell her—and slipped it over my head.
"Your turn, Teddy Bear." I carried him across the hall to his room, setting him on the changing table and pulling a shirt and shorts from the dresser.
"Mama."
I pulled his arms through the sleeves of his shirt. "That's right. I'm your mama." I poked his belly, and he giggled.
"Mama love."
My heart melted. "Oh, buddy, you're such a sweetheart. I love you, too." I kissed the top of his head. "You're so much like your dad, Jack Edward."
He frowned. "No. Teddy."
I laughed softly. "But that's your name, bud. You're Jack Edward Thornton. Your daddy wanted to call you Teddy." I lifted him from the changing table and snuggled him close. "You're my little Teddy Bear, aren't you?"
"Mama eat."
"Okay, bud. We're leaving for Abigail's right now."
...
"Well, if it isn't two of my favorite Thorntons."
"You can say that we are your favorites. I won't tell Jack." I smirked and set Teddy on the ground before I headed toward our usual booth.
He toddled over to Abigail, reaching his hands out. Abigail set down her pot of coffee and lifted my son from the floor.
"Good morning, Teddy Thornton. Are you and your mama here for breakfast? Do pancakes and fruit sound good?"
Teddy nodded excitedly.
Abigail carried Teddy around with her while she refilled coffee mugs. Teddy smiled and giggled, loving the attention that he was getting.
I found my hand drawn to my stomach, thinking about the new baby growing inside of me, wondering what he or she would be like. Would the baby be outgoing or inquisitive or quiet or excitable? Would we have another little clone of Jack, or a mixture of him and me?
"Elizabeth, are you feeling okay?" Abigail slid into the seat across from me, Teddy still in her arms. "Is your stomach upset?"
"No, no." I cleared my throat. "Actually, there's something I've been meaning to tell you."
Her eyes lit up, and she glanced between me and Teddy. "Are you…?"
"Yes. I'm due in December, about a week before Christmas." I brought my other hand to my stomach, smiling sadly. "After we lost the baby, we had decided to wait a while before we started trying again. But, you know, then Vancouver happened, and apparently we really need to learn to be more careful." I laughed softly.
"I'm so happy for you, Elizabeth."
I grinned. "Thank you."
"Now, I'll go get you those pancakes."
...
"Hi." I smiled when I saw Jack's face on the screen.
"Hi, Beth. How has your day been?"
"Good. Teddy and I went to Abigail's for breakfast. I told her about the baby." I drew my hand to my stomach. "She's really happy for us."
"She's probably happy for herself, too. Another baby to love. What is our group up to now? Three babies and two on the way?" He laughed softly.
"Something like that." My fingers danced across my belly. "Oh, speaking of the babies, Teddy told me he loved me today. That's the first time he's ever done that."
"Are you serious?"
"Mhmm." I nodded. "I was changing him this morning, and out of the blue, he said, 'mama love.'"
"I'm sad I missed it. That boy is such a sweetheart."
"That's exactly what I said. He's just like his dad." I grinned.
I heard Teddy start whining on the baby monitor.
"And there he is. I'll be right back, babe." I left my phone on the bed as I walked down the hall to Teddy's room.
He sat up in his crib, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Mama," he reached out his arms.
"Hi, Teddy Bear. Did you have a good nap?" I lifted him from the crib. "Let's change your diaper, and then I have a surprise for you."
Once he was freshly diapered, I carried him to my bedroom, sitting him in my lap so I could pick up my phone again.
Teddy's eyes lit up when he recognized his dad on the screen. "Dada!"
"Hey, buddy. How are you?"
He reached toward the screen. "Dada love."
"I love you, too, bud. And I'll see you really soon, okay?"
"Hey, Teddy," I brushed the hair back from his forehead, "can you tell your daddy about how you couldn't sleep last night because you missed him?"
"Really?"
"Mhmm." I nodded. "He woke up crying and didn't stop until I showed him pictures of you."
"I miss you, too, little man. Just one more night, and then the next night, I can put you to bed again, okay? We can handle one more night."
"I don't know if I can handle one more night. I think the longer we're married, the harder it is to be apart from you."
"I know what you mean. I can't even imagine how much harder it's going to be for me to leave once the little peach comes."
"Little peach? Where did that come from?"
"That's how big the baby is right now. I looked it up."
"You're adorable, Jack Thornton."
"Can you put the phone by your belly? I want to talk to our little peach."
"Uh," I chuckled, "I guess." I held the phone over my stomach.
"Hi, baby. It's your daddy. I miss you, and I love you. Are you being good for your mama? Don't you go making her sick, okay? You need to be nice to her; she's doing a lot to grow you and keep you comfortable."
I smiled as he talked to our unborn child, forever in awe that I was able to find such a wonderful man.
...
I woke the next morning when the front door closed. I rolled over and saw Bronte bolt down the hall. A few moments later, there were footsteps on the stairs.
"Hi, Beth." Jack leaned down and kissed my forehead.
"Hi, babe." I reached out and cupped the back of his neck, pulling him back toward me. "I missed you."
"I missed you, too." He pressed his lips to mine. "And I missed you, little peach." He put one hand on my belly, rubbing gently.
"Come here." I tugged on his shoulder, trying to pull him onto the bed.
"Hang on." He kicked off his shoes before sinking down beside me.
I snuggled into his chest. "I didn't expect you home this early."
"We got done with everything last night, so I was free to leave as soon as I woke up."
"You must've woken up awfully early."
He kissed the top of my head. "I don't sleep well without you."
"I don't sleep well without you, either." I peeked around him to look at the clock. "We have about forty-five minutes before Teddy wakes up, though."
"Mm," he wrapped his arms around me, "just enough time for a nice nap."
...
Half an hour later, I was hit with a wave of morning sickness. I slipped out of the bed carefully, trying not to wake Jack.
When he did finally wake ten minutes later, he found me sitting on the floor of the bathroom, leaning back against the wall.
He handed me a glass of water. "I was going to ask if you wanted to go out and do something today, but it would seem the baby has other plans."
"I'll be fine in a little while." I took a sip of water. "What did you have in mind?"
He shrugged, sliding down the wall to sit beside me. "We could take little man to the park." He took my hand. "Or if you're not feeling up to going out, we could set up the baby pool out back and let Teddy play in it for a while."
"We could do both. Have a picnic lunch at the park, and then come back and cool off in the baby pool."
"Are you sure you're up to it?"
I nodded. "I will be. I just need to get some food in my stomach."
"What can I get you?" He hopped up.
"Maybe just some dry toast for now."
"On it."
...
I came down the stairs, now dressed in a tank top and shorts. Jack was waiting by the front door with Teddy.
"Oh, there's our baby." He grinned, his eyes on my belly.
"I think we'll need to tell everyone at lunch on Sunday. There's not really any hiding this bump now." I ran my hands across my stomach.
"That's fine with me." He shifted Teddy to his hip, freeing up one hand to touch my stomach. "That's your little brother or sister in there, little man. What do you think about that?"
"Teddy, can you say 'baby'?"
He just glanced between me and Jack, looking confused.
Jack chuckled. "Maybe he'll figure out what this all means by the time the baby comes."
"Maybe." I picked up the picnic basket from the floor. "Ready to go?"
"I don't know. Teddy, are we ready to go to the park?"
He nodded emphatically.
"Then let's go."
After we enjoyed our picnic lunch, we took a little walk around the park. Jack slipped his fingers through mine while Teddy toddled a few feet ahead of us in the grass.
"What are you thinking about?"
"How happy I am that you're home."
He smiled and kissed my temple. "I'm happy I'm home, too. I love my job, but I love you and Teddy and little peach more."
"Is little peach just going to become the baby's nickname?" I chuckled.
"It's pretty cute." He shrugged. "We'll just have to see."
"Oh, I've been thinking we probably need to find somewhere else for Teddy to go during the day when I go back to work. Rosemary's going to have her hands full with Alina and the new baby. She shouldn't have to worry about Teddy, too."
"We'll figure something out." He squeezed my hand.
...
Jack pulled a chair up beside the little pool. "Your throne awaits."
I rolled my eyes and took a seat. "You goof."
Jack somehow fit himself into the tiny pool with Teddy, who was giggling as he splashed water everywhere.
"What about Nora?" He continued the conversation we had started on our way home from the park. "Wasn't that what you wanted to name Teddy if he had been a girl?"
"Yes. I don't know if it feels right for this baby, though." I rested my hands on my belly. "What about Henry for a boy?"
"I like that." He sprinkled water on Teddy's head, eliciting a big belly laugh from him. "What do you think, little man? What should we name your little brother or sister?"
Teddy just stared at him for a moment, then smacked his hand against the water.
"I like Blair or Hannah for a girl."
"Not Elizabeth?"
"How many times am I going to have to tell you that none of our children will be named Elizabeth?"
"What about Elizabeth as a middle name?"
"Maybe." I gave him a little smile. "But only if it goes well with the first name."
"Elizabeth goes with everything. Isn't it like, top five most common middle names?"
"Something like that. How do you know that, though?"
"I've been looking up baby names when things are slow at work. I like Amelia or Lucy."
"Any boy names?"
"I think it's a girl. If it is a boy, we could name him after our dads."
"William Thomas or Thomas William?"
He shrugged. "I think both are good. We don't need to stress about it too much right now. Remember, we didn't have a name for Teddy until after he was born."
"Yes, and it was so strange for those first few minutes not having a name to call him. I want this one to have a name before it's born." I rubbed my belly. "Maybe it'll be easier this time around since we'll find out if it's a boy or a girl in a couple of weeks."
"Maybe."
...
I sat Teddy in the high chair and took a seat beside Rosemary.
"Elizabeth, please don't be offended if I'm wrong, but I couldn't help but notice that it looks like you might be…"
I laughed softly. "If you're about to say it looks like I might be pregnant, you're right." I smoothed my dress over my belly. "Getting close to three and a half months along. I'm due in mid-December."
"That's wonderful news! Congratulations."
"What are we congratulating Elizabeth for?" Clara leaned forward, peering around Rosemary.
"This baby." I touched my stomach.
"Oh, that's so exciting!"
"What's exciting?" Jesse shifted little Ally to his shoulder, patting her back gently.
I chuckled. "I'll just tell everyone." I stood and cleared my throat. The eyes of everyone around the table turned on me. "So I don't have to make this announcement a hundred more times," I cradled my stomach, a smile stretching across my face, "we're having another baby in December."