Mid July

It was a month into Jack's training at the academy. He hoped he would get used to being without his family and Beth but it wasn't happening. He looked forward to talking to them every Saturday. That being said, he didn't allow his mind to drift there until evening, after three hours of studying. Then he turned off his light and let his mind think of how great it would be to finally see her again. The courses and physical training were so demanding, he didn't stay awake long once his head hit the pillow but he dreamt of her often.

"Thornton!"

"Yes, sir." Jack stood, his back ramrod straight, arms at his side, wondering what Clemons, his trainer, could possibly want five minutes before he was supposed to be calling his family.

"At ease. Have a seat."

Jack sat against the wall on his bed and looked at Clemons, waiting. "Sir?"

"Just wanted to speak with you. We are thinking of allowing a "family day" of sorts in October. We are asking all you recruits if you think having that day would break your motivation or concentration, making it more difficult around here, or if it would help. What do you think?"

"Personally, sir, it's a fight every day to be away from my family and fiancé. I would very much appreciate a family day."

"Very good. We should be making a final decision regarding this in the next week or so. Now, you better answer your phone. I'm guessing you're missing a conversation that's important to someone."

"Yes, sir." Jack stood again. "Thank you, sir."

Jack sat down and immediately called Beth.

….

Julie sat in her room, stunned. She hadn't been feeling well for a while. At first she couldn't figure it out but then, when she really thought about it, she knew. So she had gone to the drug store in the next town and bought a test and took it.

Now, she stared down at it. Two pink lines. Positive.

Then the tears came. The tightness in her chest. She couldn't breathe. How was it possible?

Beth heard Julie cry out from her room across the hall. She stood and rushed into her sister's room, Jack still on the line. "Julie! What's wrong? Jack, something's wrong with Julie. I need to go." She hung up and knelt next to her sister and stroked her hair, trying to calm her. It seemed like a panic attack. "Jules, breathe, in and out. Concentrate on me. In and out."

Viola rushed in too, wondering about the commotion. "What's going on? Are you sick, Julie?"

After a few more moments, she caught her breath and laid in Beth's arms. "Julie, what is it?" Beth asked gently.

Julie said nothing. She just stuck her hand in her pocket and pulled out the test, handing it to Beth. "Is that…?" Viola asked, her eyes huge. "Oh my."

All three girls knew this was going to change everything. Maybe not for the good.

A bit later, Beth sat next to Julie in her bed, holding her hand. "How did this happen?" she asked gently.

"I don't know. We only…only once, Beth. It was a mistake. I don't love him…" she started crying again.

"Richie?"

"Yes, of course! Who else?"

"Tom."

"Tom would never…we are just friends." Beth knew that but friendships could change.

"How long ago?"

"Prom night. Two months ago."

"You have to tell them," Beth told her, referring to their parents, grateful they were out for the evening.

"He's going to kill me," referring to their father.

Beth sat up and turned toward Julie. "You are a mother now. It's time to grow up. Part of being an adult is taking responsibility for your actions and accepting consequences."

"Will you come with me?"

"Of course."

Beth looked at her eighteen and a half year old sister. A mother. She couldn't fathom why she would do something so irresponsible but the love she felt for her overrode that disappointment. Now she wanted to help her and take care of her.

….

Julie woke up the next day and immediately threw up, just like she had every morning the last two weeks.

Beth had slept in her room with her, holding her hand as she fell asleep.

"You ok, Jules?" she asked from the bathroom doorway.

"No, I'm not. I kept hoping I would wake up and it would have been a bad dream. Instead I'm living a nightmare. I'm only eighteen! I cannot be a mother!"

"You slept with Richie. This is what happened. The sooner you tell him and mom and dad, the sooner we can all figure out what to do."

"I'm not telling Richie."

"He deserves to know. It's his child too. He deserves a choice in this too."

Julie stood up from the floor and brushed her teeth, washed her face, and put on makeup to cover the dark circles under her eyes.

"What do you want to do, Julie?"

"About what?"

"You need to have some sort of game plan before you tell everyone. How will you support a child? Are you still going to college in the fall?"

"I don't have a plan."

"Will you keep the baby?"

"I don't know, Beth! I just found out yesterday. Can't I get few days to process this?"

Of course she could. Beth didn't know what she would do in her situation. She was grateful she and Jack had agreed on boundaries and stuck to them.

Julie made it through the next few days and then decided she had to tell Richie. She needed to know what he was going to do before she spilled anything to her parents.

"You're what?! Is it mine?"

"Yes! Of course it is." She watched him start pacing around the gazebo in the backyard.

"How is this even possible? Are you trying to ruin my future? I'm going to Harvard, Julie! I'm going to be a lawyer and work in the firm. A kid doesn't factor into that."

"I'm not ruining anything. It took both of us to make this baby. It's only fair to let you know what is happening."

"Julie, I can't be a dad at eighteen," he told her quietly. "I just can't."

"Well, then don't. I don't need you to be its father. We will be just fine on our own."

That's when she decided she would step up and be responsible. She needed to find a job and then she would go to school in the fall.

She drove to downtown Hope Valley and headed to the grocery store. It was owned by Ned Yost and he always seemed to be looking for help. She figured it was the best place to start.

…..

The following Saturday night, Jack and Beth both had news to share.

"Pregnant?"

"Yeah."

"Please tell me Tom had nothing to do with it."

Beth laughed. "No, babe. Its Richie."

"Oh. Well, I'm relieved its not Tom. What will she do?"

"She got a job at Yost's to start."

"What did your parents do when they found out?"

"She hasn't told them yet. I can't imagine it will go very well. At the very least, I think the fact she got a job helps a bit. I know she talked to Richie and he's not wanting anything to do with the baby."

"Babe, the firm. It's called Kensington Thatcher Law. This baby is both and….holy moly. This is complicated, isn't it?"

"Yeah. Really complicated. Let's talk about your news. What is it?"

"Put September 28th on your calendar, babe."

"Why's that?"

"Its family day. Here at the academy."

"Family day?"

"Yeah, we get to invite our family up here. You can tour the facility. Watch demos, eat great food."

"Jack. That's only nine weeks away. That's wonderful! I can't wait to see you."

"I know. Me either. I miss you so much." He missed every single thing, down to the tiny freckle by her nose. "Its killing me not to hold you in my arms," he said quietly. "Not to kiss you and smell your hair." She laughed.

"I love it when you smell my hair. Very soon, you'll be able to do all those things. We just have to get through a few more weeks."

….

The next day Julie and Beth sat at the table with their parents after dinner.

"I need to talk to you both," Julie began, her hand finding Beth's under the table.

"Ok, dear. Go ahead," Grace prompted, taking a sip of water.

"I made a big mistake."

"We all make mistakes, dear."

"Not this big." Julie stared at her water glass, not making eye contact. Her parents stared at her, waiting. "I'm pregnant," she told them, waiting for the yelling that was sure to follow.

Instead, the room was silent. So silent you could hear the clock ticking in the next room.

Julie lifted her eyes, thinking they had somehow left the room or something. Nope. There they sat, a look of pure and utter disappointment on their faces. Worse than anger.

"I take full responsibility for what I did and I plan on going to school like I was going to before and I have a job now too. I know that you are both disappointed In me. I'm disappointed in myself, but I want to keep this baby."

William stood and left the room, never saying a word. Grace stood and started clearing the dishes. "Mom?" Julie said.

"I really need to think, Julie."

The girls watched their mom clear the dishes and leave the room.

"This silence is scaring me. I'd almost rather they yell at me. Am I doing the wrong thing, Beth? Is it selfish to want to keep it? I don't know how to be a mother."

"You will learn and of course it isn't selfish to want to keep your own child. Its brave and responsible and I'm proud of you."

"That makes one of us." Julie got up and headed upstairs to her room.

….

THE LAKE HOUSE

"Pregnant?" Tom Jr. asked. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. That's what Jack said Beth told him."

"Richie is such a jerk! I can't even believe he got her pregnant."

"It takes two to tango, Tommy," Charlotte told him.

"Yeah, Ma. But a responsible person would use birth control or not sleep with her in the first place! What an idiot."

Tom assumed, knowing Richie, that he wasn't going to help her in any way. The guy may be eighteen but he didn't know how to be a man. Tom would step up if he didn't. Julie was his good friend and he cared about her.

Tom drove to town and got some flowers, wildflowers, her favorite. Then he drove to the Thatcher estate and knocked on the door.

She answered, in her robe, her eyes red and puffy. "Hey."

She stood aside and let him slip past her. "Hi."

"I thought you might need some cheering up," he told her, handing her the flowers.

"I do." Her tears started again, burning her eyes.

Tom hated it when girls cried. It made him nervous. "I'm a good listener, if you want to talk."

"I know you are." She did. Ever since the spring break trip they had taken the year before, they had spent time together, talking a lot. She never felt any spark with him, but she loved their ease with each other. "Can I just have a hug?"

He opened his arms and she walked in, holding on to him tightly. "Its going to be just fine, Julie. I promise."

"How do you know?"

"I just do. I'm going to help you."

She pulled back and looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I'm guessing the jerk doesn't want to take care of his kid, or you, right?"

"No, but I don't need him."

"You don't, but you and your child need someone. I want to be that someone."

"Why, Tom? Why take on something this huge? Neither of us are your responsibility."

He took her hand and squeezed. "I care about you."

"You make it sound so simple," she told him, taking her hand back. "This isn't simple at all. My dad won't speak to me. Both of them are so disappointed. I have no idea if I'm going to be homeless after all this. Not to mention what this might do to the law firm. I ruined everything just because I lost my head one night a couple months ago."

"Julie, your parents love you. I can't see them kicking you and their grandchild out of the house. The law firm is the largest in this part of the state. It will survive. There's no reason for this baby to change that."

"I got a job, at Yost's and I'm going to college in a few weeks."

"That's great. I'm proud of you."

"I'm keeping this baby."

"You'll be a wonderful mother."

….

William broke his silence after a week. He and Grace sat down with Julie in the living room.

Julie sniffled, tired of crying. She had cried more this past week and a half than she had her whole life, it seemed.

"Julie, when you told us you were pregnant, at first, I was angry. Then disappointed. Then I blamed myself. I asked your mother what I had done wrong to cause you to be so irresponsible."

"Daddy, it's not your fault."

"Let me finish."

"Sorry."

"Your mother reminded me of your first day of kindergarten. Do you remember that day?"

"Yes. You dropped me off at Mrs. Curtis' class."

"Yes and you told me, "Don't worry, Daddy. I can take care of myself. I'm all grown up now." His eyes teared up, something she never saw before. "You were five then. But now, you are all grown up. Julie, you are eighteen. You have the ability to make your own decisions and no matter what they are, you're able to accept the consequences if things don't go well."

"How long?" Julie asked.

"How long what?"

"Before I have to move out?"

"That's up to you."

"You're not kicking me out?"

"No. But this child is your responsibility. Just like Viola takes care of Collin, working and paying for someone to watch him, that's what you need to do. I'm not going to bail you out anymore, Julie."

She was relieved that she wasn't going to be homeless. And scared.

"Julie, one more thing. Is Tom going to man up and take responsibility for his child, like he should?"

"Why does everyone assume its Tom's?"

"You spend a lot of time with him. He came last week and brought you flowers."

"He's my friend. That's all. He brought me flowers because he thought I might need to be cheered up."

"Who then, Julie?"

"Richie."

"Kensington?!" William boomed. "This just keeps getting worse. Is he going to take care of you and the baby?"

"No. He said I ruined his life and he is going to Harvard and is going to work in the law firm and a kid doesn't fit in with that."

"He is NOT going to work at my firm!"