The snow didn't stop.

By the time everyone at the Grant farm woke up, there were drifts up to the edge of the porch and the pond had all but disappeared under the blanket of white. And it was still falling.

Elizabeth had hoped to teach today, but even if she could get to the school, she knew many of her students couldn't. First thing, she called Fiona at the switchboard and together, through a combination of the telephone and neighbors, they got in touch with all but a couple of Elizabeth's students. She assigned them extra reading and an essay on "What Snow Means To Me," and she said she hoped that they would all be able to see each other tomorrow.

They had an early breakfast, as Lee and Archie wanted to start work next door. Nathan was meeting Bill for more rounds and to check on the trapper who was missing. Elizabeth also asked them to stop by the farms of the two students she'd been unable to reach about school being cancelled.

Lee took one last sip of the good, hot coffee. "You ready, Arch?" he said to Nathan's father. Archie was sitting with Jack and Allie finishing up his breakfast. He raised a fork and nodded.

"Thanks for taking care of my two girls, Elizabeth," Lee said, putting on his coat. He gently lifted Violet from Rosemary's arms and kissed his little girl tenderly. She reached a tiny hand up and rested it firmly on his cheek. "Oh, not that..." he groaned as he closed his eyes and sighed.

Rosemary laughed softly and looked at Elizabeth and Nathan. She mimed wrapping something around her little finger, and Elizabeth laughed, saying, "That didn't take long."

Nathan was standing nearby in his red serge finishing his coffee. Lee turned to him and said, "Leaving Rosemary every morning was hard enough. Leaving both of them is nigh on impossible." He moved Violet's little hand from his cheek and kissed it.

"Tell me about it," Nathan said, pulling Elizabeth into a hug and looking back at Allie, Jack and Archie.

Lee gave Violet one last hug. "So, how do you do it?"

Nathan smiled at Elizabeth. "I think about how great it'll be to walk back in the door and see them all again," he said.

Lee nodded and sighed. "Okay, I'll try that." Hugging Rosemary, he said, "I'll be right next door, sweetheart. We'll come back here for lunch. Don't you try to bring anything over, okay?"

Rosemary pouted a little. "We're going to watch you every step of the way through the window. You be careful, Lee Coulter." She frowned. "How soon will we be able to get a telephone over there?"

Laughing, Lee said, "Let's start with a floor, Rosie. Then we'll work on the phone." He kissed her and buttoned up his coat.

As he passed Nathan, Lee clapped him on the back, saying, "Be safe today."

Archie got up to join Lee, and Elizabeth said, "Stay warm, you two. Come back over to sit by the fire once in a while."

Lee nodded. "Thank you. I think we'll be able to keep it pretty warm over there with the fireplace." He gave Elizabeth a quick hug. "In fact, we're stealing some of your wood on our way out. Allie said we could use her sled." Lee winked at Allie and went through the back door.

Archie and Lee were glad for the snowshoes, as now the path between the houses was covered in nearly two feet of snow. It was easier in the snowshoes, but still felt much longer than it had when they'd been walking on the grass just two days ago.

Lee looked up at his new roof through the falling snow. "Just in time," he said to Archie. He shook his head, thinking about how he would feel if the entire unfinished house was filling up with snow right now. Instead, it was waterproof, dry and ready for the floorboards to be sanded and then stained. He could never have done it without the good people of Hope Valley.

Archie seemed to read his mind. "Quite a town you have here, Lee. Never seen anything like it."

Lee nodded. "Yep. It's pretty great."

Rosemary stood in the window as she had promised. "You see your Daddy, Violet? Maybe if we wave to him he'll turn around." Rosemary took Violet's hand and placed it up against the window. Feeling the cold, Violet put her face there too, and Rosemary laughed. "Does that feel good, sweetie?" Just to see how it felt, Rosemary put her face on the glass too and made funny faces at Violet, making her laugh.

Elizabeth and Nathan stood and watched from the kitchen with their arms around each other. Elizabeth whispered to him, "Is it wrong that I hope Gabe doesn't find Violet's mother?" She nodded to him, "Or her father?"

Nathan pulled her closer, speaking very softly. "Gabe keeps coming up with dead ends." He peered at Elizabeth, "That's just between us. I don't want Rosemary and Lee to have false hopes. You can hit dead ends and then all of a sudden the whole thing comes together, so we just don't know yet."

Elizabeth sighed, affectionately watching Rosemary at the window with Violet. "Well, I know what I'm praying for."

He nodded. "I know. But try to think of it this way. If we find out how she was abandoned, we tie up the loose ends and Lee and Rosemary can adopt Violet legally. If we can't find them, there's always the chance that one of them may come looking for her..." Nathan looked down at Elizabeth. "...the way Caleb came for Allie."

Just remembering sent a shiver down Elizabeth's spine, and with that came the memory that Bill had no recourse but to award custody to Allie's natural father. Luckily, Caleb had wanted money much more than he'd wanted his daughter.

She looked up at Nathan. "I wonder if it could turn out the same way?" she said tentatively. "They must have been desperate to drop that sweet little girl in front of the orphanage door in the winter."

Nathan gave her a soft smile. "Maybe." He looked outside. "Once this snow lets up, I may spend a couple of days in Brookfield helping Gabe with the search." He swallowed the last of his coffee. "But for now..." he said, setting his cup down and turning to her, "...I have to say goodbye to my beautiful wife for the day."

He looked in her eyes. "How should I do that, do you think?" Nathan tenderly took a curl from her forehead and brushed it back from her face.

Elizabeth smiled. "Well, I should think that a kiss might be required..."

Allie looked from the harvest table to the kitchen and made a face to Jack. She whispered, "Don't turn around, Jack, they're getting mushy again." Of course, it was the first thing Jack did.

"Kisses!" Jack said at the top of his lungs. Considering it was one of his favorite things, it wasn't surprising that he wanted in on some for himself.

Nathan laughed and walked around to the table, lifting him up in one quick movement. "You want some?" he said, burying his face in Jack's neck, "Kisses!"

Elizabeth knew she would never take this for granted. The vision of Nathan in his full red serge, every inch the formal, steadfast Mountie, dissolving into the laughter of childhood. It could happen so fast. One minute talking about a very serious investigation, and the next cuddling with Jack and making Allie giggle.

Elizabeth sighed deeply. She couldn't love Nathan more. How she could ever have been confused about that was beyond her now. He was everything she needed, all parts of him; the loving father, the brave Mountie, the passionate husband.

Elizabeth's hands went protectively to the place where their child, possibly their children, were growing inside her. Nathan had been honest with her about his fears, and though Elizabeth knew she could be headstrong and independent, on this subject she had promised herself and Nathan that she would follow Carson's instructions to the letter.

If these were twins, and they would probably have an idea about that in a couple of months, Elizabeth had promised to have them at the hospital in Hamilton. Nathan knew that would subject him to the scrutiny and judgement of the Thatchers, but all of them had agreed that there was nothing more important than the safety of Elizabeth and the babies.

Elizabeth was trying to take one day at a time and she was absolutely committed to letting go into God's plan for her. Looking over at Nathan with the children, and Rosemary at the window, she knew she wasn't alone.

Nathan kissed Jack and Allie and went back into the kitchen to say goodbye to Elizabeth. "Bill is going to have my head," he said, pulling her into a warm hug.

"Tell him it was my fault," Elizabeth said, leaning up to kiss him.

"I was already planning to," Nathan said, grinning.

Elizabeth tucked a note into his pouch. "This is the homework assignment for Margaret and James. They were the only ones we couldn't reach."

"Helloooo the house!" came Julie's voice through the front door. Lucas was behind her, both of them bundled up against the still falling snow.

They stomped their boots and brushed as much off their coats and hats as possible before closing the door behind them. Elizabeth made a mental note to braid a rug for just inside the front door, now that winter was here.

"Good morning!" Elizabeth said. "Did you come for breakfast?"

Lucas gave her a slight bow of his head. "No thank you, I'm only providing the transportation. Your sister started to walk out here and before she was completely buried..."

"...he swooped me up like a knight in shining armor!" Julie said, laughing.

Lucas smiled at Julie, "It was a bit less dramatic than that." To Elizabeth he said, "I walked her to the livery and put her on my horse."

"Oh, what's a little snow?" Julie said, waving her hand in the air. "Isn't it beautiful?"

Rosemary came around the corner from the living room and Julie said to Violet, "Oooh, how's my little pumpkin?" She warmed her hands by rubbing them together. "May I?" she said to Rosemary.

"Perfect timing," Rosemary said. "We spent the night last night and I either need to make my way home for more clothes, or borrow some of Elizabeth's. Do you mind watching Violet for a while?"

"What a question," Julie said, taking Violet in her arms.

Elizabeth said to Rosemary, "I'm going to see Nathan off. Just go into my closet. Whatever you want..." She made a face and Rosemary could practically hear her say: None of them fit me anymore anyway.

Lucas said, "I'll take my leave. The saloon is full. Everyone staying warm, I suppose." He turned to Julie, holding Violet. Leaning down, he kissed Julie softly on the cheek. "Let Fiona know the minute you want me to come back and pick you up." He raised his eyebrows in a warning. "Don't you dare try to walk. We all know how brave you are. No need to prove it to us. Promise?"

Julie batted her eyelashes at him. "Promise."

He pulled his collar up and went out the door.

From the window, Julie watched Lucas get on his horse and ride back toward town. Violet watched too, with wide eyes, as the snow fell outside.

Turning around, Julie looked at what had just been a fairly busy scene. Now Lucas had left, Rosemary was in Elizabeth's bedroom, Allie and Jack were playing in Jack's room, and Elizabeth and Nathan were in the mudroom.

Julie listened to the sound of the crackling fire and turned to Violet. "We sure know how to clear a room, don't we, pumpkin?"

Elizabeth stood with Nathan in the mudroom where his blue wool coat and his campaign hat were hung.

Before buttoning his coat, he wrapped her inside it and she put her arms around him underneath the wool fabric. It was much colder out here beyond the reach of the fires.

But they were alone, and that didn't happen very often. Nathan bent and kissed her, slowly. "What I said to Lee is true, you know. When I get to missing you, I imagine what it will be like when I come home." He pulled her closer. "I was never like that before."

"You need to keep your mind on your job," she said into the red serge of his tunic. "Sometimes it's dangerous."

"I always focus when I need to," he said softly. "I'm not sure you realize how much of my day is filled with waiting, watching, riding, establishing a presence. How many times have you seen me standing outside the office, leaning up against that post?"

Elizabeth smiled. "And how many times, from the very beginning, did I wave to you while you stood there?" She laughed against his chest. "Do you know how often I changed my route, just to see if you were there so I could wave?"

Nathan exhaled. "I wanted to think so." He laughed softly. "We didn't always communicate very well back then."

"Well, you knew how to hide your feelings, and I was afraid to express mine. But..." She pulled away and looked up at him. "You took my breath away most days standing there."

Allie opened the back door. "Dad, Judge Avery wants to know if you've fallen down a hole." When Nathan tilted his head at her, Allie put her hands up and said, "His words, not mine."

Nathan laughed, "Is he still on the phone?"

Allie shook her head. "Nope. He said, 'tell your Dad to kiss Elizabeth and get on his horse.'" Allie laughed. "He's funny."

Nathan raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so you like his jokes." Smiling, he said, "Thanks, Allie."

"No problem," she said, closing the door.

Elizabeth was laughing softly into his chest. She looked up at him. "I love you. Be safe..."

"...yes, I'll come home to you," he said, finishing her sentence. "As soon as I can. And I love you, too, angel. Not sure you'll ever really understand how much."

She kissed him again and then reluctantly pulled herself out of the warmth of his coat. "I have a pretty good idea," she said, smiling.

Elizabeth stepped back and helped Nathan button up his coat. He placed his hat squarely on his head and stepped outside. She watched him through the mudroom window as he made his way slowly through the drifting snow to the stables to saddle Bear.

Elizabeth saw him turn and wave. She waved back, and then went inside. By the time he rode by on his way to town, Elizabeth was starting a cup of tea with Julie. Allie was back out at the table working on her essay for school.

Elizabeth scooped Jack up to watch Nathan leave. He saw them in the window and waved again, and Jack said, "Dad. Bye. Horsey. Bye."

Elizabeth laughed softly and looked at Jack. "Bye, Dad. Bye, horsey."

She kissed Jack on the cheek and closed her eyes for a moment.

Take care of him, God. You know how much he means to us.