Nineteen year old William Thornton was riding back into his home town of Hope Valley, Alberta after twenty-six weeks of Mountie training in Regina, Saskatchewan. He had known ever since he was a little boy that he wanted to join the Mounties just like his father, Constable Jack Thornton, and his late grandfather, Constable Thomas Thornton. It had been a grueling two years of preparation but he was eager to begin his career and receive his first assignment. Until then, he would be staying at his childhood home with his mother, father, and younger twin sisters. When he arrived home, only his parents were waiting outside of the house, "There he is, Canada's newest Mountie."

William dismounted his horse and embraced Jack, "Hi Dad."

"How are you, Son?" Jack hugged him proudly, "Carrying on the Thornton family tradition."

"Just doing what I've always wanted to do, Dad," said William, "Mom," he hugged Elizabeth.

Elizabeth embraced him and kissed his cheek. She observed him in his red serge and a few tears formed in her eyes, "Wow, look at you."

"Mom, please don't get all sentimental," teased William.

"You're just not my little boy anymore. You've gone from my little Mountie to an actual Mountie."

William looked around Elizabeth, "Are Mary and Charlotte inside?"

"Actually, they aren't here right now. But why don't we treat you to a special dinner at Abigail's," said Jack.

"Ah man! You all aren't having some surprise 'Welcome Home' party for me are you?" whined William jokingly.

"How did you figure that out?" asked Elizabeth in surprise.

"Mom, I was born and raised here. Every time Dad went away, every time he came home, every engagement, every wedding reception, every baby shower, every birthday or anniversary party was held at Abigail's," explained William.

Jack and Elizabeth chuckled to themselves, "Well act surprised, Buddy," Jack whispered to his son. When the group of three arrived, William braced himself before opening the door, to which all of the Hope Valley residents yelled, "SURPRISE!"

Just as William had suspected, there were decorations, banners, and food everywhere. And he had the feeling he knew exactly who had organized the majority of the celebration, "There he is! Oh you just like your father as soon as he finished his Mountie training," she said excitedly.

"Hi Aunt Rosemary," William hugged her, "Uncle Lee," he embraced him as well.

"How are you, William? Welcome back," said Lee.

"We missed you," said Aaron, "Baseball wasn't the same without you. Your sisters are with Violet."

Soon a light-brown haired, hazel-eyed girl came running over to William, "William!" she threw herself into his arms.

"Violet!" William crouched down and gave her a high-five, "So I heard you turned the big ten while I was gone?"

Violet nodded eagerly, "We had a big party here at Aunt Abigail's! Everyone in town came and we played games and had cake. And I got to play outside with Becky, Cody, Phillip, Emily, and lots of other kids. Lea and Lydia Cantrell both gave me a really nice dollhouse that Mr. and Mrs. Cantrell helped them find," after a devastating miscarriage, Shane and Faith welcomed Lea Ruth and Lydia Rachel Cantrell into the world on November 16, 1925; they were both now four and a half years old, "Mr. and Mrs. Flynn also got me a new baseball glove and bat. We played a game immediately, though Mommy didn't like it that I got my dress all 'sticky'," Violet said with air quotes. Jesse and Clara Flynn had three boys: eight year old Joshua Peter "Josh" Flynn, four year old Adam Joel Flynn, and seven month old Seth Timothy Flynn.

"Well it sounds like you had a good birthday," acknowledged William.

"Oh, she did," joked Mary.

William laughed as his sisters came over to welcome him home, "We missed you, William," said Charlotte.

"Really? You both missed me?" asked William.

"Well, we'll admit, we didn't miss the teasing for the first couple of months, but then somehow, the house felt different," Mary said with a twinkle in her eye.

"Well, I missed you both too, I had no one to annoy on a regular basis," William smirked.

"Mary, Charlotte, I think Aunt Abigail needs help in the kitchen," said Elizabeth.

They nodded and both disappeared. William turned to Aaron and the two best friends began to converse, "So how's life been for you?"

"Pretty good. Dad's teaching me how to drive the car," said Aaron proudly.

"Really?" asked William.

"Mmhm. He says I'm a natural, unlike Mom…"

"Aaron Jacob!" scolded Rosemary from about a foot away from the young men.

"Curse her terrific hearing," muttered Aaron under his breath and William smirked, "Thing is, Lilly isn't that great at driving the Model T either."

"Speaking of…where is your sister?" William looked around the room.

"Try looking behind you."

William turned around and saw her: she was the spitting image of her mother with her blonde hair falling just past her shoulders, her green eyes sparkling in the light, her smile lighting up the room, and, unlike most of the Hope Valley women who wore light pastel colors, she had a bright red blouse and maroon skirt to match. She had also grown a few inches since he last saw her. William widened his eyes and exclaimed, "Lillian!?"

"Yes, of course it's me, you silly goose!" she threw her hands up emphatically. They stepped closer to each other and they kissed each other on both cheeks, "How are you doing?"

"I…um…" William stuttered, "I'm okay," he took a deep breath and said, "You look great."

"You do too. The spitting image of your father except the fact that you have your mother's eyes," Lilly giggled.

"Well, I'll leave you two alone. I'm going to go find the food," Aaron pointed.

Aaron walked away and Lilly rolled her eyes, "Mom and I have to make two trips to the mercantile a week because of him and Dad," she huffed jokingly.

William laughed, "Well, I'm sort of like Aaron and Uncle Lee in that regards. How have you been?"

"Well, I just finished my studies in June," William and Lilly sat down on the couch, "Mom and Dad took me to New York City as a present. Oh it was the first time I had been there since I was seven, when Mom was pregnant with Violet. We got to see Count of Luxemburg on Broadway. Oh the actors were wonderful, the theater was beautiful, the whole week we spent together was absolutely amazing," Lilly said wistfully before chuckling and clapping her hands together excitedly, "Except for the fact that Dad, Aaron, and Violet convinced Mom and I to get on the Cyclone at Coney Island. THAT. WAS. TERRYFYING!" she emphasized, "But alas, I haven't done much since that trip. I've been working at Abigail's Café and helping Mom take care of Violet mostly. I mean, Aaron does his own thing at this point, mostly," Lilly leaned in closer to William, "But other than that, I've been trying to decide my next step in life. Unlike you, I don't have everything figured out," she sighed sadly.

"Lilly," William said her name and she looked up at him, "You'll get there," she smiled meekly and nodded, "You know what? There are a lot of people here right now. Maybe we could have dinner tomorrow at either Abigail's or the saloon?"

"I have to work tomorrow," said Lilly hesitantly, "Clara hasn't been able to pick up as many shifts ever since Seth was born and Aunt Abigail and Pastor Frank have some sort of event at the Children's Hospital, so it's just me and Becky tomorrow."

"Well, what about after church on Sunday?"

"Sunday is the day of rest," Lilly scolded jokingly.

"Monday?"

"Well," Lilly tilted her head and thought about it, "Mom and Mrs. Ramsey have to go to Buxton to pick up fabric on Monday so I have to watch Violet in the morning, but they should be home by dinnertime. If nothing else, Dad or Aaron will be able to watch her in the evening. I'll let you know tomorrow if it's okay."

"Cool," said William and he stood, "Well, I'm going to see if I can get some of Aunt Abigail's chocolate cherry cake before Aunt Rosemary eats it all."

Lilly smiled and laughed, but she knew William was right. She watched her dear friend walk away when a thought suddenly hit her, "Did he just ask me out on a date?"