"...So the best way for you to avoid the virus is to drive, and to stay away from railroad towns." Carson looked at Lucas and Julie. "If you decide you need to get back sooner and take the train, I can give you the precautions you need to take. You'll have to follow them very strictly."

The sitting room in the Thatcher mansion was quiet, and those in it were somber. Carson had laid out everything he knew about the Spanish flu, which was considerable. Now they were all simply trying to take it in. Except for Nathan and Lucas, who'd had some time to process the information.

Lionel and Viola decided to stay at the mansion for the duration, especially considering the virus seemed to be coming from Europe.

Lucas and Julie chose to take the train home, but they would reserve two private cabins, take their own food and drink, and would do exactly what Carson told them to do.

Elizabeth, Nathan, Carson and Jack would travel back together by car with the babies.

Carson looked at Elizabeth, far across the sitting room from him. "You and the children will be safe if we drive. We just can't expect to keep their faces covered on the train, and to keep their hands away from their mouths. Jack's activity level puts him at risk too." He looked directly at Nathan, who was sitting so close to Elizabeth that they looked to be practically one person. "And Elizabeth will be healing after the surgery, which is all her body should be doing, not attempting to fight off a virus."

Carson looked at William. "Elizabeth will need to be able to lie down in the car."

William didn't hesitate. He turned to Collins, who was standing a respectful distance behind the sofa, having been asked to join the meeting in order to manage what needed to be done below stairs.

"Please see that the Pullman is made ready for a long trip, Collins. Put extra padding on the back bench, and make sure there are plenty of blankets and pillows." He looked at Elizabeth, his eyes soft. "Whatever you need," he said.

"Thank you, Father," Elizabeth said quietly. "And we'll send the car back as soon as we can."

William was already shaking his head. "No need. We have a shed full of them." He suddenly smiled. "Tell you what. We'll come to Hope Valley and pick it up ourselves." He looked at Grace and squeezed her hand. "Second honeymoon," he said softly.

Julie and Elizabeth looked at each other, unable to hide their surprise and delight at the renewed connection they were seeing in their parents. Viola missed it completely, as she was fully engrossed in securing a comb that had loosened in her hair.

Elizabeth smiled and looked up at Nathan. "I'm really glad you learned how to drive." Lucas laughed softly, having heard exactly the same thing from Nathan just a few hours earlier.

Nathan pulled Elizabeth closer. "Funny how those things work, isn't it?" he murmured into her hair. "Just when you need it, it appears."

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. "We wouldn't call this a... sign... would we?"

Nathan had naturally, as he often did, laid his hand on Elizabeth's tummy, and he suddenly felt it tighten into a surface that felt as hard as concrete. Elizabeth gave a little cry and the entire room turned to her as her eyes went wide.

Within seconds, Carson had picked up the medical bag that was never far from his sight these days, and had crossed the room. By the time he reached Elizabeth he already had his stethoscope out and into his ears. He dropped to his knees in front of her and asked gently, "Was that painful, Elizabeth?" He placed the stethoscope on the thin cotton of her dress and listened closely.

"No," she said, blinking. "Just very strange, as if every muscle just went as hard as rocks."

Nathan looked at Carson, his eyes narrowed. "What was that, Carson?"

Carson was nodding, "The babies are fine," he said, listening. It was getting easier to hear the two distinct heartbeats as they got stronger. He took the stethoscope earpieces out and leaned back on his heels, still kneeling in front of Nathan and Elizabeth.

"They're called Braxton Hicks contractions. They're very common. It's not labor, but it's your body's way of preparing for true labor." He looked at Elizabeth and smiled. "I think we should get you to the hospital."

Nathan took a deep breath, realizing that he had been breathing shallowly for some time. "Now?"

"You have a bag packed?" Carson asked.

"Yes, both of us," Nathan said.

"Now would be good," Carson said, rising to his feet. Nathan was grateful for Carson's calmness, because Nathan's insides felt a little like he did at a hard gallop on a horse. A really fast horse.

Nathan stood and bent down to help Elizabeth up. Her knees suddenly buckled and she cried out as he caught her. Now the look on her face was frightened. "That one hurt," she said to Carson, who had quickly caught her on her other side.

"Okay, straight to the car," Carson said, his voice moving from calm and quiet to firm and authoritative. Everyone heard the change, and suddenly the entire room was mobilized.

Elizabeth turned. "Julie, watch Jack. He can't come to the hospital. In fact none of you should. Stay here. I know you love me." Another pain hit and now Nathan was simply carrying her.

Collins had already opened the front door and the car was being brought around.

"You know the way?" Carson said to Thomas, the young man behind the wheel.

"Yessir," Thomas said crisply. "Knew this was coming. Practiced it every way to Sunday, traffic or no. Five minutes we'll be there."

"Good man," Carson said, impressed by the efficiency around him. Collins brought out the bags that Elizabeth and Nathan had packed. Lucas, Julie, Grace and William stood on the bottom step near the car.

"Give Jack a kiss for us," Nathan said quickly to Grace, knowing that his little boy was out in the garden with Cora. He also knew how intuitive Jack was, and Nathan was glad that he wasn't seeing all this.

"Many kisses," Grace said, taking his hand. Nathan smiled at her. Another conquest for Jack, he thought. The difference in Grace's eyes from the first time he'd seen her to now was almost startling. Grace squeezed Nathan's hand. "And you take care of Elizabeth," she said, her eyes filling.

Nathan squeezed back. "Forever," he said, softly. Then he let go and the car pulled away.

Carson had surgical masks in his bag, and he gave one to both Elizabeth and Nathan as the car raced through the city streets. "Get used to wearing these. You won't go out in public without them until we get to Hope Valley. People will stare and it doesn't matter."

Elizabeth's pain had stopped and now she was simply feeling breathless from the last few rushed minutes. Nathan started to tie the strings on her mask and she stopped him and held his hand in hers, pulling the mask down. Putting her palm on the side of his face, Elizabeth leaned up and kissed him tenderly, holding there for a long moment.

"I love you," she said, pulling away and looking hard into his eyes. "When we get to the hospital, they're going to take me away and we might not see each other for a while. Then I'm going under ether and..." she took a deep breath, "...there's a chance that I might not wake up."

Nathan started to speak, to tell her that wasn't an option, but she put her fingers on his lips.

"Let me say this, my love." Her eyes were starting to fill, partly from fear, but most of all from the love she was feeling so deeply. "You're an excellent man. You're the sweetest father and the dearest husband I could have hoped for, and if this is all I get, it's been the best life I could have wished for myself. Thank you for loving me so well, and..." Another pain took hold and Elizabeth used all her powers to not cry out. Instead she put her arms around Nathan and squeezed him so tightly that he was certain bruises were forming on his back and neck.

Bruises that he would gladly endure a hundred fold if he could only take this pain away from Elizabeth. It was sheer torture to see her like this and be unable to stop it. Nathan clenched his jaw and looked at Carson as if to say, do something! but Carson only nodded and said, "Breathe into it, Elizabeth. But whatever you do, don't push. You'll want to, but don't." Carson was reaching around from the front seat and rubbing Elizabeth's back gently.

Elizabeth groaned and then exhaled, the worst of it over for now. When she looked up and into Nathan's eyes again, he saw something very different. Steel. The kind of look that can stop a man in his tracks. Nathan forgot to breathe for a moment.

"I know you'll take care of Jack, and Nate and Becca, for as long as you live. I know that." Her eyes went soft. "I've seen them, Nathan, they'll be fine. But I've had a little trouble seeing... myself."

Nathan tilted his head. "Don't say that," he said quickly. "You're going to be fine." Now his eyes were filling. "You have to be," he said, his voice breaking.

"We're here," Carson said, as they pulled up to the emergency entrance to the hospital. Nathan held Elizabeth tightly and whispered fiercely in her ear. "You do whatever you need to get through this, my angel. And I will see you, and Nate and Becca, when it's all over. I love you more than I've ever loved anyone or anything." His voice finally broke down. "You come back to me," he said.

And just in time, because suddenly he was stepping out from the back seat of the car, watching as his wife was being wheeled through the door. He tried to follow as she went through a second door, but Carson turned and shook his head. "Put your mask on, Nathan. Now. Wait here. Pray."

It was the longest four hours of Nathan's life. He'd lost count of the number of times he'd walked up to the desk and asked the long-suffering nurse if she had any news. He had struggled with anger, denial, tears and the deepest fear he could remember. Losing Elizabeth this way, after losing Sarah, was almost more than he could imagine bearing.

Carson had sent a nurse out right away to let Nathan know that he would be unable to talk to him until after the surgery because the attending physician had agreed to Carson being in the operating room with him.

So, for three hours and fifty-six minutes, there was no news. Only the terror swirling in his head, and the disbelief at the possibility that one, or all three, of the precious lives beyond those doors could be taken from him.

Nathan prayed. Harder than he had ever prayed in his life. He bargained with God. He pleaded. He was grateful that Elizabeth had forced him to listen to her in those last few minutes in the car, because it allowed him to let go of some the things he would be regretting right now. The wasted time, his lack of courage, the words he just couldn't say.

And Nathan forced himself to be grateful for every moment he'd had with Elizabeth, and every moment he'd already had to love Nate and Becca.

As he talked to God, Nathan finally fell into a sort of quiet resignation that could only be described as peace. A sense of peace with whatever was to be. As he sighed with his elbows on his knees and his head hung down, eyes closed, he knew he'd been given an answer. Perhaps not the answer, and not the answer he wanted, but it was an answer.

It would be what it would be. And none of his worrying would change an iota of it. And in the same way that meeting Elizabeth was in God's plan, so was this.

So Nathan let go.

And just as he did, the doors opened, and a nurse came out. "Mister Grant?" the nurse said, and Nathan looked up. She had seen eyes that were haunted like these, but never so blue.

"Would you follow me, please?"

"Is everything... my wife... the children... are they...?" He couldn't seem to just ask one question, and so he ended up asking none.

"The doctor will answer all of your questions, Mr. Grant. She pointed out a sink to his right. "Wash very carefully, all the way up your arms. Use this," she said, handing him disinfectant soap. Nathan did as he was told and then followed her through the doors and down a long hallway. Carson was standing with his back toward Nathan, wearing white surgical scrubs.

"Carson..." Nathan managed to say, his heart hammering in his chest.

Carson turned, and Nathan could see he was holding a baby in his arms. And he was smiling. Grinning, actually.

Nathan's heart went into his throat, because Carson wouldn't look like that if there was even an ounce of bad news. Nathan picked up his pace and his long legs covered the distance far faster than the nurse who was no longer beside him.

"Would you like to meet your son, Nathan?" Carson said. He had a trace of tears in his own eyes.

Nathan looked down at the reddest, puffiest little face he'd ever seen. "Nate," he said, almost whispering. Carson raised his eyebrows and held his arms out just a fraction. Nathan reached out to slowly and ever so gently take his son into his own arms. He weighed more and seemed sturdier than Nathan had expected, and Nathan looked up at Carson with a question in his eyes.

Carson laughed softly, "They didn't even need the incubator. Both perfectly healthy and close to full-term weight." He squeezed Nathan's arm and laughed again. "You two know how to cook!"

Nathan laughed too, and a tear made its way down his cheek. Then he looked up and said, "Elizabeth?"

"In there," Carson said. "With your daughter."

Nathan turned and looked through the door. Elizabeth's hair was spread out across the pillow like the corona of the sun, and her face, though very tired, was just as bright. She was incandescently beautiful. In her arms, she held Becca, peacefully sleeping with her bow mouth in a pout.

"Nathan," Elizabeth said softly, her voice rough from the anesthetic. She reached her hand out and took his, and for a moment they both looked at each other in wonder. They were holding their children. Their children. Parts of each of them, here in their arms, and already side-by-side with Jack and Allie in their hearts.

The Grant family, now six.

Holding Nate securely, Nathan leaned down to kiss her gently on the forehead. "They're so beautiful, angel. I love you so much."

Elizabeth smiled happily. "How's the baseball team looking, Constable Grant?" she said sleepily.

Nathan looked down at Nate. "Looking very strong, Mrs. Grant." He laughed softly. "Chance at the pennant, I think."

Elizabeth sighed, her eyes closing. "And I came back to you, my love," she said. She was still fuzzy from the ether. "I know why I couldn't see myself," she said, her voice slurring a little. Looking down at little Becca, she said, "Because I'm in them." She gazed up at Nathan, smiling. "And you're in them."

"I am," he said, moving closer and almost whispering. "Sleep now. I'll be here when you wake up."

"Promise?" she said, her eyelids fluttering.

"Promise," Nathan said. He looked at Becca and then down at Nate, then back to Elizabeth's peaceful face. Forever and forever.