When Calls the Heart: The Greatest Christmas Blessing

After the tumultuous season five finale of When Calls the Heart back in April where viewers learned the devastating truth of Jack Thornton’s untimely death while rescuing fellow Mounties and the end result of learning that Elizabeth was pregnant with his child, the show’s holiday special aired on Christmas Day.

The show opened with a panning shot of pictures of Elizabeth and Jack at their wedding, Jack in his uniform and a picture of the couple as Elizabeth read from a book entitled The Greatest Christmas Wish. As she reached the end of a page of the book, she reacted to a kick from her unborn child, and it was revealed that Elizabeth was VERY pregnant. And after a visit from Molly and Florence with a basket full of baby items, it was made clear that Elizabeth does not have the baby’s room ready – and she’s keeping that truth secret from her friends in Hope Valley. Fortunately, later in the episode, Elizabeth came clean to Abigail about not only being scared about becoming a mother but also not feeling up to completing the baby room. Thankfully, her friends didn’t take no for an answer, coming to Elizabeth’s house to help get the room set up beautifully for the baby with Elizabeth adding the finishing touch: a picture of Jack in his Mounty uniform.

At the school house later that morning, the children were working on their Christmas Wish Tree ornaments with little Opal asking Mrs. Thornton what her wish was for the holiday. She naturally wanted nothing more than to have a healthy baby to which Opal said her mother told her that Mounty Jack could see the baby from heaven. Elizabeth, of course, agreed with that sentiment. It was at that moment that they all heard singing, discovering that Jesse was hauling the Christmas Wish Tree into town with two young women and a number of children in tow on the wagon.

It was soon revealed that Jesse found the two young women and the children on the side of the road due to a broken wagon wheel that left them stranded. Introductions were made – the two young women were siblings Lillian and Grace (guest stars Morgan Kohan and Jocelyn Hudon) – and the children were orphans being taken from one town to another due to one orphanage being closed and a new one soon to be opened in Lillian’s former home.

The new arrivals were invited into Abigail’s café for hot chocolate while Bill and Lillian discussed the broken wagon wheel. Unfortunately, the town’s blacksmith was gone for at least a week, meaning the siblings and children were stuck in Hope Valley until their wagon could be properly repaired; and being the inquisitive man he has always been, Bill was leery about the story told to him by Lillian about their trek from the former orphanage to the new one.

Soon enough it was decided that Lillian and the boys would stay at Abigail’s Café while Grace and the girls would stay at Rosemary and Lee’s home. As the town leaders learned more about the siblings and the children, it was soon discovered that Lillian and Grace had been orphans themselves, being separated as children, only finding each other within the last year. They eventually shared stories of their childhoods that Lillian had been adopted when she was 8-years-old, but Grace never was never adopted. These experiences had spurred the sisters on to help other orphans have a better life.

Their story paralleled that of the two little girls – Charlotte and Millie – who were in their care; but with a bit of a twist. As the story unfolded, it was discovered that Lillian and Grace were only to have 7 children in their care, but when they arrived in Hope Valley, they had 8 children. The truth was eventually revealed that Lillian and Grace had gone through all the requirements of the time to get Millie out of her orphanage so she could be with her older sister Charlotte, but due to a change in Directors at the orphanage where Millie was assigned, she was not allowed to leave with the rest of the children. So, Millie ran away and the rest of the orphans hid her from Lillian and Grace until the accident with their wagon.

Due to his extensive investigation, it was Bill’s duty to take Millie back to her orphanage, but in a last minute decision, Bill “missed” the coach leaving Hope Valley, allowing Millie to stay through Christmas. But there was yet another twist to the story. Mrs. McCutcheon – the new Director at the orphanage where Millie lived – arrived in Hope Valley to retrieve the child. Just as she was prepared to leave with the little girl, however, a bad storm hit the area keeping them in Hope Valley for another day.

That storm, of course, proved dangerous for Abigail, Rosemary and Elizabeth who had ventured to the nearby town of Benson Hills to retrieve a roast for the Christmas Feast [for which Abigail had been stressing over the last few days to get prepared and supplied with plenty of food] as well as pick up a baby stroller for Elizabeth – a gift from Rosemary. While they were able to get the stroller, Abigail wasn’t able to get the roast that was so badly needed for the Feast. It was on their return trip to Hope Valley that they encountered the storm, swerved off the road and wrecked Gowen’s car, which they had to borrow to make the trip.

It was at this point that the ladies couldn’t stay in the car because of the encroaching storm, venturing towards an old hunting cabin that Abigail believed was nearby while Bill, Carson and Lee rode on horseback attempting to find them. Before the men could reach them, though, Abigail and Rosemary helped Elizabeth bring her baby into the world and the men got to meet young Jack, Jr. once they found them all in the cabin.

Also during the story, Jesse surprised his girl Clara with tickets to The Nutcracker at the Union City Opera House only to discover that they were going to the ballet and he would need formal attire to attend. Unfortunately, he couldn’t afford a tuxedo nor had the proper clothes of his own so the men in town helped him out. Lee donated dress shoes, Carson loaned a nice white shirt, Bill gave Jesse a sharp pair of black pants, a jacket was borrowed from Gowen and Lee gave Jesse a nice pair of cufflinks to complete Jesse’s ensemble. At the end of the episode, Clara appeared in a beautiful dress (obviously of her own creation) and Jesse in his makeshift suit to head off to their big night out.

Elsewhere, it was revealed early on that little Millie did not talk, but she did love to read. Rosemary took little Millie over to Elizabeth’s house to get a book and, of course, she chose The Greatest Christmas Wish book that Elizabeth had been reading at the top of the special. Millie carried that book with her everywhere even following Gowen around town, even getting him to read it to her. Eventually, he was reading the book to both Millie and her sister Charlotte and later on it was revealed that Gowen looked like their late father – that was why Millie had been following him around. It also seemed that Gowen had softened towards the little girl over time reading to her, later sharing that his Christmas wish was that Millie would read the book to him one day and moments later she started reading it to him, proving to everyone that she could talk. This revelation also allowed Mrs. McCutcheon’s heart to soften, and she signed over Millie to Lillian and Grace.

The ending montage found all the orphans and siblings Lillian and Grace getting matching pajamas [just like what had happened for Lillian and Grace when they were little girls] which were made as last minute gifts by Clara and Rosemary at their dress shop; the Christmas Feast finally happening – albeit a day late, due to the drama of the storm and Elizabeth’s baby being born – and the school children giving their favorite toys to the orphan children, including an improved kite from Robert and Cody and little Opal gifting her much beloved teddy bear to little Millie, who was reading the book throughout the montage and finishing with Elizabeth reading that book to her little baby Jack.

What did you think of the annual holiday special? Were you excited to see the new additions to the show? Did you like the escapade of Jesse trying to find a suit for the special outing with Clara? Did you predict that Elizabeth would have a baby boy and name him Jack? Please share your thoughts in our comments section below.

When Calls the Heart will return for the start of its 6th season on Hallmark Channel in February. It should also be noted that the story of siblings Lillian and Grace will continue in the spin-off series When Hope Calls that will air this summer on Hallmark Movies Now.

Get the full line-up of this year’s new holiday movies in our 2018 Holiday Movie Guide. And don’t forget to download your Holiday Movie Bingo cards!