"Elizabeth, we're going to be late."

"No, we're not. You're just overeager, Jack Thornton." I carefully descended the remaining steps, trying to compensate for my changing center of gravity.

"Well, can you blame me? We're going to find out if our little peach is a boy or a girl today." He grinned and leaned in to kiss my cheek. "You look beautiful today, by the way."

"Yeah, yeah."

"I'm serious, Beth. You look beautiful every day, but there's something special about seeing you carrying our baby." He brushed his fingers across my stomach, a smile playing on his lips.

"Jack…"

He kissed me softly. "Okay, beautiful. We can't be late. I'll take Teddy next door. You just go get situated in the car."

I handed him the diaper bag. "Should I start the car while I'm at it? That could shave a few seconds off, really make sure we aren't late."

He rolled his eyes. "Make fun all you want. I'm just excited."

Despite his insistence that we were going to be late, we ended up arriving fifteen minutes early for my ultrasound appointment.

Once we were called back, Jack helped me up onto the exam table. I leaned back and lifted my shirt over my belly.

Jack held my hand as the technician moved the probe around, clicking some buttons and taking measurements of the baby. She explained everything she was doing and what she was seeing. She pointed out the baby's face and hands, the little feet and beating heart.

"The baby is in a really good position right now if you'd like me to tell you the sex."

I looked up at Jack, meeting his eyes. He gave a tiny nod, but I knew that he probably felt like he would explode with excitement.

I turned back to the technician. "Yes, please."

She moved the probe slightly to get a view of the baby from a different angle. "Well," she pointed at the screen, "it looks like you two are having a little girl."

Jack squeezed my hand, a wide grin stretching across his face. Tears filled my eyes.

"Congratulations." The technician handed me a towel to wipe the gel from my stomach. "She looks good."

"She's healthy?"

"Yes. Everything looks great. Her heart rate is right where it should be, and everything seems to be developing properly. She's right on track for twenty weeks." She stood. "I'll leave you to finish getting cleaned up."

"Thank you."

The moment the technician stepped out of the room, I burst into tears, and Jack pulled me into his arms, fighting tears himself.

"A girl. A little girl." He kissed my temple. "I love you, Beth. We're going to have a daughter!"

I wiped my eyes and kissed him. "I love you so much." I brought my hands to my stomach. "And you, baby girl. I love you so much, too." I looked back up at Jack. "I'm just so happy she's healthy."

"Me too." Jack put his hands next to mine. "A little Elizabeth."

I laughed. "I've told you so many times: our son may be named Jack, but that doesn't mean we're naming our daughter Elizabeth."

"Our daughter. Wow. I just can't believe it. I wonder what Teddy is going to think about having a sister."

"Probably the same thing he'd think if it was a brother: who's this creature stealing all of mom and dad's attention from me?"

He chuckled. "We'll just have to plan some special days for him after little Miss comes."

"That's a good idea."

"I have another good idea. Let's go somewhere for lunch before we go pick up the little man."

"You don't need to get to work? I thought you were working a half shift today."

He put his arm around my waist. "I am, but I don't have to be there until two."

"Okay, in that case, let's go have Mexican. I'm craving something spicy."

...

"So?" Rosemary passed Teddy to Jack. "Is everything good with the little one?"

"Everything is perfect." I smiled. "Good heartbeat, good growth."

"Should we tell her what else we learned?" Jack looked at me, eyebrows raised.

As much as I wanted to keep it a secret, I knew he was dying for everyone to know we were going to have a baby girl.

"Why not? Your little boy," I nodded toward Rosemary's stomach, then drew my hands to my own belly, "has a little girlfriend coming."

"Oh, a girl! That's so exciting! We'll both have one of each!" She rubbed her stomach. "Did you hear that, little guy? You're going to have a little girlfriend."

"How are you feeling? You're getting pretty close."

She smiled. "We're getting anxious for him to get here. Just two more weeks, give or take."

"How's Alina handling everything?"

"She's still convinced she's getting a sister."

"Oh dear. Well, I hope she's not too upset when he's born."

"You and me both." She chuckled.

"Beth." Jack touched my arm. "We should get home. I need to get changed for work."

"Oh, of course. Thank you for watching Teddy."

"Anytime."

...

"Guess what, Teddy Bear." I set him in my lap. "You're getting a baby sister."

He looked at me curiously, then pointed a little finger at my belly. "Baby?"

"That's right, bud. That's your baby sister in there." I gasped when she kicked. "She's saying 'hi' to you, Teddy. 'Hi, big brother.'"

He patted my belly gently.

"Are you saying 'hi' back? That's so sweet, Teddy. Your sister is going to love you so much, my sweet boy."

He looked up at me with a dimpled grin.

I touched his cheek. "You are just the cutest little thing, Teddy Bear."

"So, little man likes his sister?" Jack came out of the bathroom, running a towel over his hair.

"For now." I laughed softly as Teddy started rubbing my stomach. "We'll see if that lasts once she's here."

"Did you show him a picture?"

"No. I forgot about them."

He retrieved the stack of ultrasound photos from his nightstand and settled on the bed beside me. "Hey, Teddy. Here are some pictures of your sister. Want to see them?" He held a photo in front of Teddy. "Can you see that, little man? That's her face." He pointed at the picture as he spoke. "That's her nose, and her mouth, and that's her hand."

"Teddy, where's your nose?"

He looked at me for a moment, then touched his fingers to his nose.

"That's right, bud. That's your nose. Good job." I ruffled his hair, and he smiled.

"Beth, look at this one. She's sucking her thumb." Jack passed one of the pictures to me.

Sure enough, she had her hand up by her face, her thumb in her mouth.

"That's her left thumb she's sucking on. Maybe we'll have a little lefty."

"Maybe. Should we stock up on left-handed scissors?"

I laughed. "Probably not just yet."

Teddy crawled into Jack's lap and yawned.

"Is that your way of saying it's time for bed?" I brushed my fingers through his hair.

"I'll put him down." He handed me the rest of the pictures and scooped Teddy up. "Say good night to mama."

"Night, Teddy Bear." I kissed his cheek. "I love you."

"Mama love."

"Sweet boy." I smiled and tickled his belly.

...

Fifteen minutes later, Jack came back into our room, sinking down on the bed with a sigh. "He did not want to go to sleep."

"Too much excitement today. He got to play with Alina, he found out he's getting a sister."

"I still can't believe that's our little girl in there." He placed his hands on my stomach. "Little peach."

"She's bigger than a peach."

"I know. She's a banana now, but 'little peach' is way cuter than 'little banana.'" He brushed his thumbs back and forth, a smile spreading across his face. "So until she has a name, that's what I'm calling her." He kissed the top of my head. "You realize I was right about her being a girl."

"Yeah, yeah." I leaned back, tucking my head beneath his chin. "Hey, Jack? Would you have been this excited if it was a boy?"

"Of course. I mean, I've been thinking girl this whole time, so I'm excited that I was right, but I would have been just as excited if I was wrong. All that I care about is that we're having another happy, healthy baby."

"Can you believe we're already halfway to meeting her? Maybe more than halfway, if she decides to come early like Teddy did."

"I can't wait. She's going to be the cutest little girl there's ever been." I felt him smile against my hair. "I hope she looks like you."

"I hope she looks like you." I sighed contentedly, placing my hand on top of his. "She's moving a lot right now."

"Do I need to tell her to go to sleep?"

I laughed softly. "No. I'm enjoying it. She likes your voice."

"Oh, really?" He shifted in the bed so his face was closer to my belly. "Hi, little peach. Your mama and I are so excited to meet you in a few months. I think you'll like it out here. You have a big brother named Teddy, and we have two dogs in our house. Rip probably won't even notice you're here, but Bronte will want to play with you. Hopefully we'll have a name for you soon."

"Not Elizabeth."

He laughed. "Not Elizabeth," he agreed. He stretched up to kiss me. "We can start narrowing down the list, though."

"Laurel. Victoria. Meredith. Kate. Anne."

"Okay, now you've added five more names to our already too-long list." He smirked.

"I just want lots of options so she isn't nameless for the first hour of her life like Teddy was."

"We have four more months to pick one. I'm not worried about her being nameless. Besides, if anything, we can just name her Peach."

I laughed. "No way. That can be her nickname, but we are not naming her that." I touched his cheek. "We need to figure out the nursery situation, too."

"Can't we just keep the nursery how it is, and turn the guest room into Teddy's room?"

"I don't want to move Teddy until he's out of the crib, though."

He moved his hands back to my stomach. "I guess we could keep her in here with us until Teddy's ready for a bed. Then we can move her to the nursery." He kissed my temple. "We have plenty of time to figure this out."

"Yeah, it seems like plenty of time, but the next four and a half months are going to pass so quickly. We also need to decide what we're doing with Teddy for the few months I'm back at work."

"You could talk with Clara and Jesse, see where they take Ally when they work."

I threaded my fingers in his. "Good idea."

"I'm just full of those today."

"You're full of something, alright." I smirked.

He nudged me. "Hey."

"Maybe I meant that you're full of goodness."

"Goodness and tacos." He patted his stomach. "Good call on having Mexican for lunch."

I giggled. "You're a goof, Jack Thornton."

"But you love me." He pressed his lips to mine.

"I do. I love you a lot."

"I love you, too."

...

"Sorry I'm late. I had a little errand to run on my way home."

"Does your little errand have anything to do with that bag you're trying to hide?" I raised my eyebrows.

"Maybe." He gave me a sly smile, swinging the bag behind his back. "Let me get changed, and then I'll show you what it is."

"Hurry up, then."

"We'll see." He winked, then jogged up the stairs.

"What's your daddy up to, little one?" I rubbed my stomach. "He's so silly."

He came back downstairs just a few minutes later, bag still in hand. He set the bag in my lap, nodding for me to open it.

I stuck my hand inside and felt cloth. I pulled out a tiny red, green, and white plaid dress.

"I figured the little peach needs an outfit for Christmas since she's due right before then."

"Jack, this is adorable." I ran my fingers over the dress. "We can get her some tights and a bow to go with it or something."

"We should get a bowtie or something for Teddy that matches so we can take some cute pictures for a Christmas card."

I folded the dress and put it back in the bag. "Perfect." I set the bag aside and smiled at Jack. "Who would've guessed that you would be the one to buy our little girl her first dress?"

He shrugged. "What can I say? I'm just so excited."

"She's not even born, and she already has you wrapped around her little finger."

"I just love her so much."

"I know exactly what you mean." I cradled my stomach. "It's amazing how much we can love these little people before we even meet them."

"Our babies are so lucky to have you for a mom." He put his hand on the back of my neck, pulling me into a kiss.

"And they're lucky to have you as a dad. I love you so much."