As Nathan and Elizabeth came in from the porch swing, the phone was ringing.

"I'll get it," Elizabeth said. She kept her warm coat on. They didn't usually keep a fire going in the sunroom unless they knew they'd be spending time in there.

"Elizabeth?" It was Rosemary, and if her ecstatic voice was any indication, she and Lee had decided to foster the baby from Brookfield.

"Did you...?" Elizabeth started.

"YES!" Rosemary said. "We're picking her up tomorrow, and I want to take you up on your offer to come with us. Will you, please?" Rosemary caught her breath. "We'll be in that wagon for hours coming home, and I'm thinking, what if she cries and I don't know what to do? I'd love to have you with me, Elizabeth."

"Of course I will, Rosemary. But I have school tomorrow, and if we go after, I'm afraid that would make a long day for you."

"No, you don't have school tomorrow," came Florence's voice suddenly. "We'll teach your class, Elizabeth! Rosemary asked if Molly and I could substitute for the day, and we'd love to! Carson said he can spare Molly." Elizabeth thought she heard Florence sniffling. "Another baby! We're all so happy!" Florence said.

"Florence, really? You don't mind?" Elizabeth said gratefully.

"We'd love it. We feel like we're doing our part to welcome our newest Hope Valley resident!"

Elizabeth said, "I can send the lesson plan with Allie in the morning. Thank you so much, Florence."

"You're very welcome," Florence said, blowing her nose.

"Yes, thank you, Florence," Rosemary said, "We appreciate it so much." She paused, waiting for Florence to get off the line, but she never heard the click. "Florence?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you," Rosemary said again, more forcefully.

"Oh, yes, of course! Sorry!"

Then they heard the click, and Elizabeth said gently, "How do you feel, Rosemary?"

Elizabeth could almost see Rosemary's hands fluttering. "Excited, terrified, certain, not certain, thrilled... ask me again in a minute and you'll get a completely different answer," Rosemary said.

"And this is all normal," Elizabeth said calmly.

Rosemary took a deep breath. "You see? This is why I need you to come with us. I'm sure I'll change my mind every five minutes on the way to Brookfield..."

"Rosemary." Elizabeth smiled, remembering how absolutely unprepared she felt in the last month of her pregnancy with Jack. "You want this, don't you?"

"So much," Rosemary said softly. "I can't imagine doing anything else."

"Then that's what we'll focus on tomorrow. All the way to Brookfield. And on the way home, with your baby in your arms, it will all make sense," Elizabeth said. "Trust me."

"I do trust you. Completely. I'm not sure how we would do this without you," Rosemary said, breathing deeply and sounding much calmer than she had at the beginning of the conversation.

"What time do you want me to meet you?" Elizabeth said.

"At seven, at the livery. We're taking the wagon because Lillian has a carriage, a crib and some toys that they want to let us use," Rosemary said. "Dress warmly. Once the sun comes out it's fine, but early in the morning, it will be cold."

"I will." Elizabeth sighed. "I'm so happy for you, Rosemary. For both of you."

"Oh, Elizabeth. Is this really happening?" It was hard to tell if Rosemary was crying or laughing.

"It really is," Elizabeth said, feeling so excited for her friend. "I'll see you tomorrow!"

Nathan had come in to the sunroom for the last part of the conversation. He was now sitting next to her, his long legs stretched out in front of him. There was a slight chill in the room, and Nathan took a quilt from the sofa and covered Elizabeth, taking special care to tuck it around her.

Elizabeth laughed and shook her head. "I don't know if I'm ready for all this pampering."

Nathan raised an eyebrow, "Well, you'd better get used to it, because it's only going to get worse." He moved closer to her and smiled. "Body heat," he said. "Strictly therapeutic." He kissed her on the cheek.

"And kisses are therapeutic as well, I suppose?"

Nuzzling her ear and making her giggle, Nathan said, "It's a known medical fact."

Just then, Jack came running in and made his best effort at climbing up on the sofa. Nathan reached his arm out and helped him up, and Jack put his arms around Nathan's neck, wanting to be held. Nathan happily obliged. Allie was right behind him, and then, just to complete the family tableau, Archie walked in.

"You two have a nice walk?" Archie asked. Then he sat down across from them and said, "We having a family meeting?"

Elizabeth smiled. "As a matter of fact, we are," she said. "Rosemary and Lee have decided to foster the little girl from the New Hope Orphanage..." At this point, Allie clapped her hands happily as Elizabeth continued. "Rosemary would like me to go with them in the wagon to Brookfield tomorrow."

Allie raised her eyebrows and grinned. "So, no school? Grandpa, do you want to go fishing with me?"

Elizabeth laughed. "Hold on, Allie. Florence and Molly are going to substitute for me, and I need you to take them the lesson plan."

Allie sighed and nodded. "Yes, ma'am," she said.

Archie leaned over and whispered. "What if we go fishing after school? I've been wanting to see this spot you're talking about."

Nathan joined the conversation. "Actually, Dad, I'm going to Brookfield too, so we might need you to help Allie watch Jack after Laura leaves, if you don't mind."

Archie looked over at Jack and made a face at him, and Jack giggled. Like father, like son, Elizabeth thought with a smile. Archie said, "I'll never turn down a chance to spend time with my grandson..." He looked affectionately at Allie, "...or my granddaughter."

Elizabeth turned to Nathan. "You're coming with us?" It was the first she'd heard of it.

Nathan shrugged. "Gabe has been asking when we can get together to discuss that bank fraud case from a while back. He's testifying in a couple of weeks and it would be easier to talk it through in person." He tried to look casual. "You know." He shrugged again. "Might as well."

Elizabeth laughed. Looking casual was not easy to pull off, and it was almost impossible for a person as honest as Nathan. "Are you going to follow me everywhere for another six months?" she said, raising an eyebrow.

He smiled back at her. "It depends on where you go."

Archie said, "You two go. We'll handle things here. If I need to ask Laura to stay a little later, I will."

"Thanks, Dad," Nathan said.

"And then when we get back," Elizabeth said to Archie, "We'll start working on planning your birthday party."

Archie shook his head, "Oh, now, I don't need you to go to a lot of trouble. At my age, birthdays don't really need to be celebrated."

Elizabeth smiled, "Well, if it makes you feel any better, we're celebrating our new house, and also will be helping Lee get his roof up on the same day. We've been studying barn raisings in school, so we're going to use it as a time for teaching the children, too."

Archie laughed. "That's my kind of birthday," he said, nodding. "I'll be proud to be a part of all that."

Jack had reached the limit of his attention span, and he climbed down Nathan's leg to the floor and ran off toward the kitchen. Allie popped up and went after him.

"Thanks, Allie," Elizabeth called out to her. "I'll be right out. I need to give him his bath before bed."

"I'll put the water on..." Allie yelled from the living room.

Archie looked at Nathan. "I don't know if I've told you son, what a fine job you've done raising that girl. She's smart and funny and has a heart like the whole outdoors."

Nathan smiled. "We learned together, Allie and me," he said. Then he looked at Elizabeth. "But she's thirteen now and if there was ever a time for reinforcements to show up..." He took Elizabeth's hand and brought it up to his lips to kiss it.

Elizabeth smiled, "Speaking of which, I should probably go help Allie with Jack's bath." Elizabeth tried to give Archie and Nathan as much time alone as she could. They had so much to talk about and she knew they were both hungry for it.

Before she could get up, Nathan had already stood and put out his hand. He moved the quilt so it was nowhere underfoot and looked at her expectantly. Elizabeth shook her head and took his hand. She put her hands on either side of his face and kissed him. "You're very sweet, my love, but I'm not an invalid. Save it for when I actually can't get up. That will come soon enough."

Nathan watched her go through the door and into the living room, then he sat back down and smiled across at his father.

Archie chuckled. "I do love watching the two of you. And I remember being the same way with your mom. 'Course she was carrying twins..."

Nathan frowned. "When did you know? That there were two of us? Elizabeth talked to Mom and she said it was right when we were born."

"That was it. I was lighting up a cigar and heard someone say, 'There's another one!'" He looked at Nathan and smiled. "That was you." After a moment, he narrowed his eyes at his son. "Why? Does that worry you?"

Nathan shook his head. "I've talked to the doctor in town, and have done some research on my own. The odds are very low." Nathan had a sudden memory of a friend at the Mountie Academy who used to say, "Never tell me the odds..."

Archie took a deep breath and said, "You'll cross that bridge if it comes to it. And it probably won't."

For a moment they sat in silence. There were so many things to talk about, it was hard to know where to begin sometimes.

Finally, Archie said, "I've been wanting to ask you about your mother. Can you talk to me about her, son? I understand if you can't."

Nathan's first instinct, from long practice, was to shut down. But Nathan had been wondering how to bring this up, and Archie had actually just solved a problem for him.

Earlier in the evening, when Nathan had asked Elizabeth about all of his dreams coming true, she'd answered "Dream some more." When he'd thought about that, the first thing that had come to his mind was having his entire family together. The last time Archie had been home, Sarah and Caleb were in Edmonton with Allie. And then Archie had gone to prison.

So there had never been a time that Nathan, Allie, Rebecca and Archie had been in the same place at the same time. For this housewarming, the beginning of this new life, it was Nathan's wish that it finally happen.

Rebecca had already told Elizabeth that she never wanted to be left out of a family gathering because of worries about how she and Archie would be together. Now the only person Nathan needed to talk to was his father.

Nathan smiled and looked across at Archie, ready to answer his question. "Mom's doing very well. She loves the ranch, still spends half her time in the kitchen cooking or in the garden growing things to twice their expected size." Nathan laughed, and Archie laughed with him.

"Woman always did have a green thumb," Archie said softly. He looked back at his son. "Been meaning to ask you how a particular piece of furniture got out by the fireplace."

Nathan raised his eyebrows. "The loveseat?" Nathan smiled, remembering. "Yeah, Mom saw us sitting in it the night before our wedding, and she brought it here as a present to us."

Archie's voice went low. "That was your grandparents' chair. And when I visited your mom, I used to call it our courting chair." Archie sighed. "I sat in it for a time today." He looked up at Nathan. "I know I did some terrible things to you and your mother, but I loved Becky from the first moment I saw her, and never stopped."

Nathan felt the old stories, with their old angers attached, coming up in him again. But then he thought of Elizabeth and what she would say, and he simply let the stories go and they drifted by. He didn't need to be right. I can't change how it all happened. Maybe he did love her. The man in front of me sure looks like he did.

Nathan's voice was soft too. "We all just do the best we can every minute of the day, Dad."

Archie looked at him for a moment and then said firmly, "You're a good man, Nathan. And an even better one because you did it without a father." He nodded. "I can't tell you how grateful I am that you're giving me a second chance."

Nathan smiled warmly. "And I'm grateful you came to find us when you got out of prison. And that you stayed long enough to show me how much you'd changed."

Archie laughed, "Except you wanted to throw me out of town on my ear more than once..."

"I didn't make it easy on you, that's for sure."

Archie shook his head. "Aww, I would've been surprised if you'd been any different. I deserved it all."

They spoke at exactly the same time.

Nathan said, "Water under the bridge, Dad."

Archie said, "Water over the dam, son."

They looked at each other and laughed. Nathan said, "I'm glad you're here, Dad. Very glad."

Archie nodded, grinning. Then he took a breath and said, "Your mother, she's still at the ranch in Airdrie?"

"Yes."

"And I can see from the pictures that you and Elizabeth were married there. I don't remember ever seeing that spot, with the pergola?" Archie said.

"I built it when I was fourteen." He chuckled, "Sarah watched."

Archie laughed softly. "Sounds about right."

"Well, it's a beautiful spot for a wedding."

"Dad," Nathan said, hesitating. "I'm sorry we didn't... that you couldn't..."

"I thought we decided no apologies, son. I need to earn a place in this family again. A happy occasion like your wedding isn't the place to do that, especially when it's at your mother's ranch."

"It felt complicated." Nathan smiled. "But I wish you had been there."

Archie said, "Thank you for that. And I'm here now." After a pause he said, "Allie was showing me your book of wedding pictures. I see Charlie is still there, at the ranch?"

Nathan nodded, afraid of where this might be going. "Yep. Still the head hand," he said guardedly.

"They look good together," Archie said.

Nathan looked across at his father, searching his face. He waited until Archie said more.

"It's okay, son. They've been good friends from day one on that ranch, and it was never more than friendship. If they've found a comfort in each other after all these years, I can live with that."

Nathan thought he would just jump right in. "How would you feel about seeing them here, for our celebration?"

Archie laughed out loud. "Are you asking if you can invite my former wife to my birthday party, son?"

Nathan grinned. "No, Dad. I'm asking if I can invite my mother to our housewarming."

Nodding, Archie said, "I'll have to admit that sounds much better." He sat forward and said, "Of course you can. As long as she and Charlie are okay with it, so am I."

Archie looked down for a moment and said, "There are a lot of people in this house that your mother and I love, son."

He looked up and smiled at Nathan. "And more on the way."