"I don't want to leave," she mumbled as he kissed her again. The whole day had been perfect. Seeing each other helped so much in getting them to December but it still hurt to leave.

"Curfew is in ten. I really need to go." He kissed her again and then squeezed her hand. "I love you so much. I'll talk to you Saturday."

"I love you too." She stood on her toes and kissed him once more, holding on for just a few seconds, and then watched him walk inside.

She walked to the car which was waiting about twenty feet away, and climbed in. "Ready to go home, dear?" Grace asked.

"No, but it's late. I have class tomorrow." She lived back in the dorms this year. She had a roommate, Patty, who she tolerated. She definitely wasn't Faith. Faith had graduated with her associate's degree in nursing the past summer. She would see her in December because she was one of her bridesmaids.

After twenty minutes, they were at her dorm. "Thank you for going with me today."

"Of course. It was good to see what he does every day, don't you think?" Grace asked.

"Yeah."

"Talk soon, Beth?" William asked her.

"Of course. I'm coming down for Julie's ultrasound so I'll see you in about two weeks."

"Ok, love you."

"I love you both too."

….

A week later….

"Hey, babe," Jack said with a grin, when their skype connected.

"Good grief, you're cute," she told him, wanting to leap through the phone and kiss him.

"Thanks! How are you?"

"I'm good. I have news and we have a decision to make."

"Ok, what decision?"

"Well, first the news. Dad wants to buy us a house, in LA."

"That's very generous of him."

"He says it's a wedding present. I think it's just Dad being Dad. What do you think?"

"I think I wanted us to buy a house together. You and me. I mean, I'm your husband, or I will be. I just feel like it's our big thing."

"That's what I thought you would say. I told him that you may go for him leasing a house for us until I'm out of school and we both have jobs."

"Beth, he's already paying for part of our honeymoon. I feel like we need to do this, on our own."

"Ok. I'll tell him. In that case, should I use some of our joint money to put a security deposit down on a condo or something?"

"Yeah. That's what I was hoping."

Most of what was in there was his salary from the academy. They had opened the joint account before he left.

"This is weird, hon. Picking out a house for us to live in without you seeing it."

"I know. Why don't you take your mom or Julie with you?"

"Ok, I might. How many bedrooms do you want?"

They chatted for another half hour and then he hung up to call his parents. She then called her dad to tell him their decision.

"I understand that you both want to do things on your own, but if I paid for a house, it would make life easier."

"I know, Dad, and we really appreciate your offer, so much. But that's what we decided."

"Very well, Beth. I'll respect that."

"Thank you, Dad."

….

Tom drove Julie back to her car at the store after they finished their dinner, this time sandwiches from the best deli in town, Avery's.

They had the weirdest sandwich names with very unique combinations of ingredients, but Tom had never had one he didn't enjoy.

His favorite was called, Gobble Moo Oink and it had bacon, Turkey, cream cheese, tomato, and spicy mustard on grilled sourdough. It was amazing.

"Thank you for dinner again, Tom. It was really good."

"You're welcome."

"You know, you don't need to take me out all the time. Its expensive."

"I want to. I like taking care of you."

"Its not necessary."

Tom parked next to her car and got out to open her door. "Its necessary to me. You're my best friend, Julie. I care about you and your baby."

"You're mine too." They had spent a little time together almost every day since he found out she was pregnant. She was so grateful for him and may have a teeny crush on him, but she was in no position to think anything but friendship feelings toward him. She was pregnant! "Well, I better go. I have to finish cramming for my test tomorrow before I can't hold my eyes open anymore."

"Do you want me to follow you home?"

"No," she told him, kissing his cheek. "I'm just fine."

"Julie, I'd feel better if you'd at least text me that you're safe when you get home then."

"Worrywart," she teased. "Ok, I'll text you."

"Thank you."

"Night, Tom."

"Night."

…..

When Tom walked in his house that evening, his Dad was still up, which wasn't normal. Usually because of his heart medicine, he fell asleep around eight PM.

"Hi, son." He turned the tv off and sat forward on the couch. "Have a seat."

"Sure, Dad." Tom sat across from him, on the couch.

"How's Julie this evening?"

"Tired. She works a lot and then with school…"

"You sound worried."

"I am. What if she's doing too much? I read online that pregnant women need to rest as much as possible."

"They do, you're right. Why are you so concerned, though?"

"She's my friend," he said with a shrug.

"You sure she's not more?"

"Right now, I think that's all she can be."

"How do you feel about her?"

"She's my friend….but I think…I want her to be more. I want to take care of her, Dad. She's alone in this."

"She has Beth."

"She lives three hours away."

"Her parents."

"Dad, Mr. Thatcher basically told her she can live there but she made a decision and she has to figure things out for herself, and then stupid Richie…I just feel like I can help her."

"How does she feel?"

"I don't know."

"Maybe that's a conversation you need to have." Tom Sr. stood and put his hand on his son's shoulder. "Just be careful. I don't want you to get hurt in this."

"She would never hurt me."

"Maybe not intentionally, but what happens if you fall in love with her and she doesn't feel the same? What if she falls in love with someone else in the future and that man gets to be the baby's father?"

Tom watched his father walk away down the hall and immediately felt a pit forming in his stomach. It may seem crazy to people at this point but he knew that Julie and the baby were going to be his family one day. He just needed to be patient.

….

Beth drove down to Hope Valley the night before Julie's gender reveal ultrasound. She was excited. She really wanted to know if she was having a nephew or a niece.

"Anyone home?" she asked quietly as she peeked in Julie's bedroom door.

"Beth! Come in!" Julie looked happy and cute, sitting cross-legged on her bed, glasses on, hair in a ponytail. "I'm so glad you're here."

"I know, I can't wait for tomorrow."

"Me either, but that's not why."

"Oh, why?"

"I aced my midterm! I was so worried. Tom told me that I was ready and everything would be fine but I just never feel like I study enough."

"Good job, Jules. You've always second guessed yourself in school but you've always been a good student. I'm not surprised at all."

"Thanks. That means a lot." Julie put her glasses on the side table and shut her laptop. "Will you sleep in here tonight?"

"Sure. I'm in need of a good sleepover."

"Missing Jack?"

"And Faith and you." Beth snuggled up to Julie's side and wrapped her arm around her slight tummy. "I need my sister tonight."

"Find a place to live yet?"

"No. I need someone else's opinion. Do you have time this weekend?"

"I have to work."

"Both days?"

"Yeah. Babies are expensive. I almost have enough for a crib and car seat."

"Isn't Richie sending money?"

"Yeah, but I'm trying to save all of it in case of emergency."

"Do you think you are working too much?"

"You sound like Tom. Dad basically told me I'm on my own. How else am I supposed to take care of a baby without working?"

"Don't you think part of taking care of the baby is taking care of yourself?"

"I'm fine, Beth. I promise."

….

The next morning…

Beth drove Julie to the clinic for her ultrasound appointment.

"Who's ready to find out if it's a boy or girl?" Wendy the tech asked as she entered the darkened room.

"We are!" Julie and Beth said in unison.

"I figured that would be the case. Did you drink all your water?"

"Yes, I feel like I'm floating."

Wendy smiled and squirted cool blue gel on Julie's tummy. First she took some measurements and then found the heartbeat, which made both girls smile. "Ok, so any feelings one way or the other?"

"Not really."

"Congratulations, Julie. It looks like you're having a boy!"

"A boy?" Julie's eyes filled with tears. "Beth, I'm having a boy!"

Beth smiled, staring at the screen. "How can you tell?" All she saw was lines and dark spots.

Wendy pointed at the screen. "Right there…that tells me."

Beth laughed quietly. "Oh ok."

"Congratulations again, Julie. You can get dressed. Just schedule your OB appointment before you leave, ok?"

"Yes, thank you, Wendy."

Beth hugged Julie as soon as she was dressed. "Are you happy?"

"Yeah."

"Happy tears?"

"Of course."

"But…?"

"I'm ok with doing this on my own and I don't regret keeping him but it's not how I pictured my life, you know? The father of my baby is supposed to be here, my husband, not across the country at college, ignoring the fact I'm having his baby except for a little money every two weeks."

"I know it's not the same but I'll be here as much as I can."

"Beth, you're getting married in two months. You're not going to be able to be here, and I understand that Jack and you need to be newlyweds, not traipsing back to Hope Valley whenever I need something."

"Traipsing? Who says that? Not a nineteen year old woman usually," she teased.

Julie made her next appointment and then they walked into the waiting room to get their light jackets.

"Beth, thank you for coming with me today, but I can do this on my own. I'm strong and I'm a mother now. He's my responsibility."

"Yes, but…"

"Tom?" Julie said, catching sight of his truck outside. "I can't believe he came. "

They headed outside and found him reading in his truck. Julie knocked on his window.

He looked up and then hopped out. "Is it a boy? I have this feeling," he said quickly.

Beth smiled at his excitement and then stepped back to give them a moment.

"Don't you have class?" Julie asked.

"Not for another hour. Is it a boy?" He touched her hand and looked in her eyes.

She nodded. "It's a boy."

He scooped her into a hug and whooped. "That's great! I bought something for you." He reached into the cab of the truck and pulled out a large, thick book.

"100,000+ baby name book. That's a lot of names," Julie said with a smile.

"It thought it might be fun to pick names together."

"Tom, this is nice but you don't need to do this."

"I want to do this. Please don't ask me to stop caring about you. I wouldn't be able to do it."

She kissed his cheek and squeezed his hand. "Thank you."

"My pleasure."

Something about the way he asked her that made her heart beat faster and hurt at the same time. She did care for him too but she wasn't in love. She could see something in his eyes that suggested maybe he felt more for her than just friendship. That scared her. She didn't know if she wanted to be in a relationship. The one with Richie was such a disaster and she didn't want to relive that again, especially now that she had her baby boy to think about.