Chester had just stopped crowing, and on this Saturday in late November the Grant farm was a hive of activity. Elizabeth and Nathan would be leaving soon with Rosemary and Lee to go to Brookfield. Gabe had arranged a meeting with Frances and Harold at the orphanage, and for this meeting they thought it best to leave Violet at home.

Laura would watch Violet at the Coulters for the day, and Julie and Lucas were taking Jack out for a picnic and to build a snowman. Archie and Allie were planning a ride out for some ice fishing.

"So, what is Dad doing in the sunroom?" Allie said, looking up from milking Lizzie.

Elizabeth held tightly to Jack as he sat on the stall gate and giggled at Sarah. She was the sweetest horse, and she liked to push her nose gently up against Jack's hand while Elizabeth rubbed her ears.

"It's a long story," Elizabeth said, smiling. "The short version is that the porch swing wouldn't quite fit through the door so he had to take it apart and now he's putting it back together inside."

"And he brought it inside the house because...?" Allie asked.

Laughing softly, Elizabeth said, "We missed Spring and being able to sit on it."

Allie looked up at her and couldn't help smiling. "You two are perfect for each other, you know?"

Elizabeth smiled back. "That's what people tell us." She watched Allie for a moment. "You told us that, right from the beginning. Do you remember when I told you your Dad and I were courting? You could see it then."

Allie rolled her eyes and laughed, "It didn't take a genius, Mom." She gave Lizzie a pat and said, "Good girl." Allie stood up and moved her stool to its place in the corner and picked up the pail. "Aunt Julie says they have enough cheese for this week, but she needs butter. How much milk do we need to keep out?"

Elizabeth looked into the pail. "Just about a quarter of that. The rest is all yours." She lifted Jack off the gate and said, "Say bye-bye to Sarah."

"Bye-bye Sawah, good horsey," Jack said sadly.

"Awww," Elizabeth said, kissing his cheek. "Maybe tomorrow your Dad will give you a ride to town," she said, hugging him tightly. She put him down so he could walk. "Now we go get eggs!" she said brightly.

Jack was having none of walking, and he took off at a sprint to the chicken coop. "Eggs!" he said, running around the corner. Elizabeth had to walk quickly to keep up with him, and she thought the time would come soon that she might have to make sure she always had someone with her to chase after Jack.

It's all new, she thought. It was one thing for her to care for Jack by herself - with the help of the entire town, of course. But watching twins with a toddler? She was having trouble imagining how she could be in three places at once.

Allie was always wonderful, and Elizabeth knew she was luckier than most to have not only a bright, happy thirteen-year-old, but also a father-in-law, and a husband who could be fairly flexible in his job. Not to mention Rosemary and Lee, or Julie and Lucas, who would generally drop anything to watch Jack if she needed them to.

"Don't forget the one under Lucky," Elizabeth said to Jack. He took his job of egg collecting very seriously and he already had his little basket over his arm. Jack had his routine. He'd mastered the ch sound for the most part, and after opening the doors, he walked along the coop saying "Chick tick," and soothing the hens before reaching gently under them. Every time he pulled an egg out, you would think he'd discovered buried treasure. He would hold it up and say "Egg!" and Elizabeth would clap her hands.

There had been about a half an inch of snow the night before, and Elizabeth used the rake to clear the ground so the chickens could peck and scratch to their heart's content. She brushed off the ramp and one by one they walked down until they were all around Jack's feet. He loved being right in the middle of them, and laughed at their noisy chatter and their jerky movements.

"Let's go see how Dad is doing, shall we?" Elizabeth said, taking the basket from him and holding his hand. They went into the mudroom and put the eggs in the box that Nathan had made just for the purpose.

Allie was already in the kitchen turning the handle on their small butter churn. She had all but taken over the icebox in the mudroom so Nathan had built her one of her own, which had milk in various stages of cream separation and cooling.

Not only was she making some extra money, but Allie had done a report in front of the class showing how the butter separated from the cream. In a book in the library, she'd found a traditional churning song from Scotland and the class had sung it with her while she gave them turns at the handle.

"Come butter come, come butter come, Peter stands at the gate, a-waitin' for a buttered cake..."

Elizabeth watched her now and heard her humming the tune absentmindedly. "I'm so proud of you, Allie."

"It's fun," Allie said. "I enjoy it." She set the small churn aside to rest. "So, when are you and Dad leaving?"

"Very soon." Elizabeth looked out the windows at the bright sun rising behind the trees.

"And he's driving?" Allie said, raising her eyebrows.

"Yes," Elizabeth said.

"You're brave..." Allie said smiling before she turned back to her churning.

Jack was restless so Elizabeth pulled off his little boots and let him run. He was looking for Nathan, and everyone had just heard a grunt coming from the general direction of the sunroom.

Elizabeth came around the corner and the only part of Nathan that was visible were his long legs sticking out from under the swing.

"How's it going?" Elizabeth said, just in time to scoop Jack up before he jumped up on Nathan.

"Al...most...done! There," he said, tightening the last of the bolts. And just in time, because Jack wriggled out of Elizabeth's arms and crawled up into the swing.

Nathan managed to get out from underneath it by surprising Jack and making him laugh. Then he sat down gingerly on the swing to test it and motioned for Elizabeth to sit down beside him. Jack crawled up on Nathan's lap.

It was in the perfect place, right in front of the window, looking out at the expanse of pure white snow that was dazzling in the sunshine.

Nathan was unconsciously pushing the swing with his foot the way he always had on the porch. Jack was mesmerized and was calmly looking outside at the snow while he played with Nathan's suspender.

Nathan looked down. "I forgot what a good babysitter this swing is." Then he looked over at Elizabeth and kissed her. "Good thing it's got lots of room."

She smiled at him as they moved back and forth. "I've missed this. Thank you."

"You're welcome," Nathan said. He raised his eyebrows and grinned. "And I didn't even have any pieces left over."

Elizabeth laughed. "Always a good sign." She looked out at Lee and Rosemary's house in the distance. "When are we meeting them at the fork?" Elizabeth asked.

Nathan looked up at the clock. "Half an hour. When is Julie getting here?"

Elizabeth laughed. "Same. But remember, it's not just Julie, it's also Lucas. Getting those two up this early and on time would be a miracle. Archie's going to watch Jack until they get here. He knows it might be a while."

Elizabeth snuggled in next to him and put her arm around Jack on his lap. "This is more like it," Elizabeth said. "I think we should keep it here and get another one for the porch."

Nathan laughed. "Were you thinking I was going to take this apart and put it together again every year?" He pulled her closer. "It's definitely staying here." He looked down at her. "I was actually thinking I might make another swing in the woodshop this winter. Something more... rustic, to fit with the surroundings."

Elizabeth smiled up at him. "That's a wonderful idea." She looked up at the clock again and sighed. It was nice sitting here and she didn't really want to get up. "You okay with Jack? I need to get ready."

"No problem," Nathan said, taking Jack's hands and pretending to hold a steering wheel. "Jack is going to teach me how to drive."

Elizabeth raised her eyebrows. "Really? Well, he'd better hurry up because you're getting behind the wheel in about twenty-eight minutes."

Elizabeth kissed Nathan and then kissed Jack on the head. As she was going down the hall, she heard Nathan say, "Okay, Jack, how do we turn this thing on?"

Elizabeth and Nathan waved goodbye to Archie and Jack and walked the short distance to the fork in their road that led off to the Coulters' house. Rosemary was in the back seat of their car, and Lee was walking around to the passenger side.

Lee grinned and looked at Nathan. "She's all yours. Don't embarrass me, okay? I told Rosemary I'm a good teacher."

"I'll do my best," Nathan said, helping Elizabeth into the back seat with Rosemary. It was their choice so they could talk easier, and it was also warmer in the back. "Next you can teach me how to ride your motorcycle," Nathan said, winking at Lee.

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes at him. "I can't wait to see you doing your rounds in your red serge on that contraption."

Nathan smiled and raised his eyebrows at Lee. "Not a bad idea..."

Elizabeth leaned up and said softly, "Yes, but is a Mountie still a Mountie if he's not mounted?"

Nathan laughed and Lee said, nodding, "That's one of your jokes, isn't it? You're lucky Elizabeth thinks you're funny."

"Don't I know it," Nathan said. Then he looked down at his feet and asked loudly, "Okay, so where's the brake?"

Rosemary gasped in the back seat and Nathan turned around and gave her his crooked smile. "Kidding."

"Oh, you!" Rosemary said, cuffing him on the arm.

Nathan did very well. He didn't stall the car once, which led Lee to gloat about how he might start driving lessons on the side. The roads were nice and clear in the warmth of the sun after last night's light snow.

Lee and Nathan talked companionably about automobiles and motorcycles, about the sawmill, and about the need for a mayor in town.

Elizabeth talked with Rosemary about their plans for Christmas, how she was looking forward to seeing Stella and Jessie again, and how happy they were that Charlie and Rebecca were coming too.

"Remember," Rosemary said, "We have extra bedrooms as well. And Lee and I were talking. We'd like to have everyone over on Christmas eve for cider to celebrate our new house. And it's Violet's first Christmas, and we're so excited about that!"

"We would love to!" Elizabeth said, "And you'll join us for Christmas dinner? Allie and Nathan have a long-standing tradition that they go fishing on Christmas morning to see who catches the biggest fish, so we'll be having fish for lunch, but for dinner..."

Rosemary frowned. "Elizabeth. You're not fixing a full Christmas dinner for a crowd in your condition, are you?"

Elizabeth laughed. "Not all of it, certainly. Again, Julie, Lucas and Gustav to the rescue. I would highly recommend having a sister in the restaurant business." She raised an eyebrow. "Though I wonder sometimes if Julie considers her traveling dinners as simply good advertising."

Rosemary laughed. "Nothing wrong with that. We've had three dinners at Le Bistro already, two with Violet and one just the two of us, and it's an utterly charming place to eat, Elizabeth. Julie has done a superb job." She raised her hand with a flourish. "Magnifique!"

Smiling, Elizabeth said, "We find ourselves having trouble just getting out of the house. One of these evenings, we'll simply go." Elizabeth looked for a moment at Rosemary. "How are you feeling?"

Rosemary took a deep breath. "Nervous. Anxious. Excited." She took Elizabeth's gloved hand and shook her head. "We know Violet so well now, and it's... strange to think of meeting her mother. But also wonderful." She looked out at the passing countryside for a moment. "I think only you will understand this, Elizabeth, but..."

She paused for so long, that Elizabeth said, "Yes?"

Rosemary continued, biting her lip. "I feel like... like... Violet wants us to do this. To take care of her mother and grandfather." She frowned. "Is that slightly crazy?"

Elizabeth laughed. "Oh, you're asking the queen of crazy when it comes to talking to babies, Rosemary. I'm keeping up a constant conversation with three of them," Elizabeth said, smiling at her friend. "I think you're very sane."

Rosemary shrugged. "I'm just... as they say... going with the flow. The way we learned in acting school. I'm trying not to overthink it."

"Did you find anything out about Violet's father?" Elizabeth asked.

Rosemary nodded. "He worked on the railroad. They met in town and she fell in love. And then he went where the work went, with the railroad. Frances has never heard from him again."

Elizabeth said, "That must have been very hard for her."

Sighing, Rosemary said, "Yes. And Violet was born in early April, so Frances went through a hard winter before that. She's a strong girl."

"She'd have to be," Elizabeth said softly.

They sat in silence for a time, and Elizabeth said a prayer of thanks. When she'd learned she was expecting little Jack, she'd received sympathy and compliments on her bravery at doing it alone. Now, hearing about Frances, not only without the man she loved, but also in cold and hungry conditions, she felt a little ashamed at having occasionally felt sorry for herself.

Elizabeth moved her hands into her coat pockets to hold her babies and took a deep breath. She had a husband who adored her, a warm and loving home, such good friends, the best of medical care; it was hard to fathom how her life could be any more blessed.

They passed a sign that said it was one mile to Brookfield, and Rosemary sat up straight, taking Elizabeth's hand in hers again.

Lee turned around and looked at Rosemary. "You sure you want to do this, sweetheart?" he said softly. "We can turn around right now."

Rosemary pursed her lips and shook her head. "No. I don't want to turn around. I need to do this."

They were meeting with Gabe before driving out to the New Hope Orphanage for the meeting. The orphanage felt like a neutral space, and there were plenty of rooms where they could talk away from the children.

Gabe had been asked for the meeting and had readily agreed, but he didn't know exactly what they wanted to talk about. It wasn't inappropriate for foster parents to learn as much as they needed to care for the child in the best way possible.

"You wanted to talk before we go out to the orphanage? So, how can I help you?" Gabe asked from behind the desk. Rosemary, Lee, Elizabeth and Nathan were sitting across from him.

"We want to help them, Gabriel," Rosemary said, sitting in his office. "They must be cold out there. Can we get them into the boarding house in town, or is there someplace they can live to be warm and safe?"

Gabe looked at her for a long moment. He liked Lee and Rosemary very much. They had generously and selflessly come to help the people of Brookfield after the devastating fire in town, bringing lumber so they could rebuild. He didn't relish giving them bad news.

"Rosemary. Lee. You do understand that your fostering of Violet until March is predicated on the fact that her mother lives in conditions that are not appropriate or safe for a baby?"

Rosemary nodded. Lee was silent, because he could see right away where this was going. Nathan was kicking himself for not having thought it through and come to the same conclusion.

Gabe continued. "If you help them... if you improve their living conditions... there's a very good chance that the court will be forced to give Violet back to her mother."