(No One's POV)

"But Daddy, I don't want to go to school. I wanna stay here with Abba." Beth whined to her father. She was talking about staying with Abigail, "Abba" had become the girl's nickname for her. Beth started saying it as a toddler and it just stuck. Abigail usually watched over Beth while Jack was at work, so the two had become inseparable.

There was also the rare occasion when Beth would spend the day at the Coulter's, in which Beth absolutely adored getting to spend time with her cousins, Grace & Rowan. The twins were born almost a year ago, and Rosemary was head over heels for them. Dottie's dress shop was booming, and Rosemary could be a full-time mom, sending over designs & sketches in her free time. It wasn't what Rosemary had imagined for her life, but it was perfect, nonetheless.

"Beth, we've been over this. You've gotta start learning more about the world. Besides, making friends will be good for you." Jack had to get to work, but first, he was making the two some breakfast. As he cooked up some scrambled eggs on the stove, he giggled at the thought of when Elizabeth had tried to cook for him in the past. She had tried her best though, and that's what mattered.

Beth came running down the stairs in her nightgown. "Daddy, Daddy! I don't know what to wear if I'm going to make friends." Her mind bounced from one thing to the next at her age. She had turned five a couple months back, just in time for school to start. Jack had no idea where the time had gone.

The two of them lived up on the hillside in their house. There was room to breathe, for it was bigger then the houses for coal miners, but it was perfect for the two of them just the same. Jack decided to take a break from traveling around and stay in Coal Valley. It was hard being gone when Beth was a baby, but now that she was getting older, she'd start remembering that he was gone, and Jack couldn't bear the thought of that. Of course, there'd be times when he'd have to be gone for the weekend on a work trip, but nothing too long or too dangerous.

Jack smiled back at Beth. "Okay sweetie, let me just finish making your breakfast. I can't just leave the stove you know."

Beth climbed up onto a chair at the kitchen table. "I love you Daddy."

"I love you too Beth." He finished up breakfast and made sure the stove wasn't running anymore. "Alright sweetie, let's go pick out your outfit while these eggs cool down a bit.

When the two of them headed for town a little bit later, they couldn't believe their eyes.

"Daddy, look!" Beth point to main street, where everyone was gathered outside cheering. "It's Abba!" Beth ran over to her godmother and gave her a hug.

"Abigail, what's going on?" Jack was quite confused. He didn't want to have to deal with breaking up the crowd when he was trying to get his daughter to school.

"We just wanted to give Beth a proper school sendoff. Especially with you going back to the schoolhouse and all…"

"I'm fine, Abigail. Besides, we go there for church and Elizabeth taught at the saloon back then."

"I know, Jack. But still. We just want to support you two in anyway we can… I can't believe she's starting school already. She'd be so proud, of both of you." 'She', referring to Elizabeth. Abigail's emotions started swirling in her head.

"Five years has felt like a lifetime and the blink of an eye all at once. It's crazy." Jack looked at Beth for a moment more, who was now chatting with Clara and Jesse, who were expecting a baby in a few months. It seemed as though in the past five years, everyone was getting married and starting families. Abigail and Frank got married shortly after Clara and Jesse had. Cody was even Frank's best man, it was so sweet to see Abigail have a family once more.

"Thank you for doing this, Abigail, but we should really be on our way now. Come on, Beth!"

"My pleasure. Cody will be there too if Beth needs anything." Cody was 15 now, so he still had a few years left of school until he had to figure out the next chapter of his life. The boys in Coal Valley didn't drop out of school to go work as often anymore, so it was nice to know that Cody would still have friends at school as he got older. Becky was working in Hamilton as a nurse, but she came to visit as often as she could.

"Cody's going to be at school too? Daddy, we have to go!" Beth started pulling on his hand, which was his cue to continue their walk to school. They waved to everyone as they passed by. Bill, who stayed at the jail for the night shift, so Jack could be with Beth. Rosemary waved from the window, as she couldn't keep her eyes off the twins for too long. Dottie beamed when she noticed the dress Beth was wearing was one from her shop.

Things were looking up, but deep down, Jack was a little worried. He had seen the new teacher around Coal Valley before, but he still had never gotten up the courage to introduce himself. It wasn't that he was nervous about falling for another teacher or anything, it was just the fact that she was a teacher...and so was Elizabeth. Five years is a long time, but it's also never enough time to grieve the one you thought you'd spend the rest of your life with. Seeing this new teacher would bring back so many memories, and Jack didn't know if he was ready for that yet.

Beth squealed as they got closer to the schoolhouse. "Ready or not, here I come!"