The lights went up in the theater, and Jack reached for my hand. I looked over at him, trying to blink away the tears in my eyes.

"That was so good."

He used his thumb to brush away the tears that rolled down my cheeks. "It was no Sound of Music, though."

I chuckled. "No, but it was still really good. Thank you for getting the tickets."

"You're welcome." He squeezed my hand. "Are you ready to go back to the hotel?"

I nodded. "Can we stop and get some ice cream on the way?"

"Anything for you, Beth." He smiled and kissed my cheek.

A while later, we reclined in the bed, sharing the remainder of the pint of peach ice cream we had bought.

"Mm, this was a good call, babe."

"I agree." He got up and crossed the room to toss the empty carton in the trash can. "By the way, did I thank you yet for my anniversary gift? If not, thank you." He returned to my side and ran his finger along the edge of my nightgown and down my arm.

I smiled, blushing deeply. "Sorry you didn't get to appreciate it on our actual anniversary."

"Oh, I appreciated it then. Just not as fully as I can appreciate it now that we don't have our son lying between us." He brushed his lips across mine. "You know you don't have to get things like this for me, though. I don't care what you wear."

"I know." I nestled my head against his shoulder. "It's not all for you, though. Sometimes it's nice to wear things like this."

His fingers trailed up and down my arms, bringing up goosebumps. "Well, I'm glad you feel good in it. You look beautiful."

"Thank you, Jack." I reached up to cover my mouth as I yawned. "Sorry. I guess I'm sleepier than I thought."

"That's okay. It's late, anyway. We should sleep."

"No, this is probably our last weekend away just the two of us before baby girl gets here. We should take advantage of it."

He kissed my forehead. "Beth, you're exhausted. Just go to sleep." He slipped his arms around me, resting one hand on my belly.

I snuggled closer to him. "I love you."

"I love you, too. Now sleep." He hummed quietly, quickly lulling me to sleep.

Before I knew it, the sun was streaming through the curtains. I rolled over—not so gracefully—to find Jack's side of the bed empty. The sheets were still warm, so I knew he couldn't have gone far.

"Jack?" My voice was still thick with sleep. I cleared my throat. "Babe?"

He poked his head out of the bathroom, wiping his hands on a towel. "I'm just in here, don't worry."

"Come back to bed." I patted the comforter beside me. "It's cold without you."

"It's not cold in here."

"Well, maybe I'm exaggerating, but I still want you to come back to bed."

He flicked the bathroom light off and wandered toward me, taking a seat on the edge of the bed. "So, there are a couple of breakfast places around here, if you want to check one of those out."

"Or, we could order room service. I know it's more expensive, but then we wouldn't have to leave this bed."

"That's an interesting idea…"

"Please." I pretended to pout, reaching for his hand. "I'm carrying your baby. You have to say yes to me."

"I don't think that's how it works, but okay. Where's the menu?"

I grinned. "Thank you, Jack."

...

"Good morning, lovebirds." Abigail smiled and reached for Teddy as we took a seat in the pew. "How was your little trip to Tulsa?"

"So good." The corners of my mouth turned up. "Jack surprised me with tickets to Les Mis on Friday night, and then, um…" I trailed off when I realized we spent most of the remaining trip in our hotel room, which was something I most definitely didn't need to share with anyone.

"We played board games," Jack added with a wink.

My cheeks warmed, and I hid my face against Jack's shoulder.

He chuckled and kissed the top of my head. "You're adorable, Beth."

"And how was your weekend, Teddy Thornton?" Abigail turned her attention to my son.

He looked up at her and grinned. "Good."

"Grandma Charlotte spoiled him." I ruffled his hair, thankful for the change in the topic of conversation. "She took him to the store and got him his first tricycle and some new books."

"A tricycle? Wow, I bet that's fun, huh?"

"Apparently, he's a big fan. She said he put up a bit of a fight when she tried to get him off of it."

"Oh, goodness. You were just having so much fun, weren't you?"

"And how's your grandbaby doing?"

She sighed. "She's sick today. So is Clara. I got a text from Jesse earlier that they're both running fevers."

"Well, that's no fun."

She shook her head. "Not at all. I'm going to go over and help them out this afternoon, give Jesse a little break."

"They're so lucky to have you, Abigail."

"We all are," Jack added with a smile.

...

"Babe, I think we need to put a dresser in here." I started pulling clothes out of the box and laying them out on the bed. "I'm pretty sure baby girl's clothes won't all fit in the nursery while Teddy's clothes are still in there."

Jack walked in with the box of Teddy's hand-me-downs. "Are you trying to tell me I've gone overboard buying her clothes?"

I laughed. "Maybe a little."

"I can't help it. I mean, look at this." He picked up one of the dresses laying on the bed. "How cute is that? All the little birds on it. Just imagine our little girl in this."

"I can't wait until she's born. She'll be a daddy's girl for sure."

He smiled. "I can't wait, either. Now, what exactly are we doing with all of this?" He motioned toward the pile of clothes.

"To start, we need to separate what needs to be hung up and what will go in the dresser." I started sorting the clothes into two piles. "And after that, we'll sort out pajamas and onesies and stuff and get those folded."

He began to make a stack of onesies. "I forgot how tiny babies are when they're first born. It feels like it's been forever since Teddy was this size." He held up a newborn-sized onesie.

"Teddy was never that small. He outgrew newborn sizes before he was born."

"And if Em is as big as he was, we're not having any more. I know how this goes." He winked at me.

"I wasn't going to say that, but yes."

"Where do hats go?"

"Put those to the side right now. Except that one you got with her name on it. That one can go in the hospital bag."

"Mama!" Teddy's voice drifted down the hallway.

"Well, that wasn't a very long nap." I put down the clothes I was folding. "I'll be back shortly. You keep sorting."

"Yes, ma'am."

Ten minutes later, I was sitting in a chair on the front porch, watching Jack push Teddy around on his tricycle. Teddy was laughing hard as Jack led him around, making sound effects.

"No offense, Beth, but this is way more fun than folding clothes, even cute little baby clothes."

"Oh, I agree." I chuckled. "Baby girl's clothes can be folded later. Time with Teddy is way more important, anyway."

...

"Little man's down for the night." Jack settled against the headboard. "What are you doing?"

I turned my laptop so he could see the screen. "Looking at ideas for a Halloween costume for Teddy. Rosemary and I were talking during Alina's party, and she already has all of their costumes ready."

"I can't believe Alina's already two. And Teddy's coming up on a year and a half."

"My parents always talked about how quickly time seems to pass once you have children, and they were one hundred percent right." I met Jack's eyes. "It's like I blinked and our baby is a little boy, running around and talking."

"He's still our baby." He leaned over and kissed me. "So, what ideas do you have for his costume?" He motioned toward the computer screen.

"Not a whole lot. There are plenty of cute ideas, but it's hard to narrow it down."

"I kind of expected that you'd want to dress him as a Mountie again."

"I thought about it, but he's definitely outgrown last year's outfit, so we'd have to get him a new one. So, I figured we might as well do something different."

"What about me? Are you going to make me dress as a Mountie again this year?"

I shrugged. "You don't have to, but I think you look very handsome in that uniform."

"How about we do a family costume this year?"

"Only if it's something really good. You know I'm not big on dressing up."

"Hockey players?"

"Oh no, sir. I wore your Canucks jersey one time. Never again."

"But you were so cute in it." He pretended to pout.

"Sorry. Not happening. Besides, I wouldn't fit in it this year." I touched my stomach.

He closed my laptop and set it aside before he reached over, placing his hand beside mine on my belly. "It's crazy to think that, come Halloween, we'll only be about a month and a half away from meeting Em."

I nodded in agreement. "It's getting close. Do you think we're ready to have two kids?"

"Of course." He kissed me softly. "Sure, it'll be challenging, but we can do it. You're an amazing mama to Teddy, and you'll be just as wonderful with Em."

"Thank you, Jack." I kissed him back. "For the record, you're an amazing dad."

...

The Sunday before Halloween, Jack and I were dressing Teddy in his costume for the church's fall festival.

"We should dress him as a bear every year. He looks adorable. Not that he isn't adorable without the bear costume, but you get my point."

"What do you think, Teddy Bear? Do you want to be a Teddy Bear for Halloween every year?"

Jack snapped one side of his overalls and lifted him from the bed. "He could be Winnie-the-Pooh, and Paddington, and Little Bear. Lots of options."

"Winnie-the-Pooh could be a good one for next year. We can dress baby girl as Piglet. It'd be so cute!" I tugged the little knit bear hat down further on his head. "There. He's a perfect Corduroy."

"Mama." He reached toward me, and I took him from Jack.

"Now, where's your moose hat?"

"Put that on the list of things I never expected my husband to say to me." I chuckled. "It's downstairs with your hat and bowtie."

"I wonder what the Coulters are dressing as this year. Rosemary didn't even give you a hint?"

"No. And it didn't work when I tried to use the 'I'm pregnant so you have to tell me' excuse. Apparently, that only works on you." I smirked and kissed his cheek.

...

"Well, if it isn't the cutest little family of storybook characters." Rosemary shifted Matthias in her arms as we walked up. "Hello, Thorntons."

"You guys look great."

They were all dressed as characters from Frozen. Alina was Elsa, Rosemary and Lee were Anna and Kristoff, and little Matthias was Olaf.

Lee motioned between them. "Three guesses who chose our family's costumes."

I chuckled. "I shouldn't be surprised. I think Alina has only spoken to me in Frozen lyrics for the past six months."

"Hey, Alina." She stopped twirling and looked up at Jack when he spoke. "You make a very pretty Elsa."

"Thank you." She grinned and resumed twirling.

Lee laughed. "So we've got everyone from Frozen, and you three are…let me see. The Cat in the Hat, Corduroy, and…what's the moose from?"

I held up a little toy muffin. "If You Give a Moose a Muffin, obviously."

"Ah, clever."

"Abigail is here somewhere with Becky and Cody." Rosemary glanced around the room. "And she said Clara and Jesse are on their way with Ally."

"Well, what do you say we play some games and win some candy while we wait for them?"

"Play!" Teddy squealed. "Go!" He pointed across the room at a little fishing game.

"Teddy has spoken." Jack chuckled. "Let's go."

...

A/N Thanks for your continued support of this story! And I know I keep saying baby girl is coming soon, but I really mean it this time :)