Thomas heard it all. Well, most of it.
He wasn't trying to listen, in fact, as a chauffeur he had been trained not to listen, but this wasn't talk of the price of crude oil or the cheapest materials for transatlantic shipping containers.
This was the purest love Thomas could remember, and while one part of him negotiated Hamilton traffic on the way to the hospital, the other part listened to Nathan and Elizabeth face their fears with a courage and honesty that was like nothing he'd ever heard.
Thomas had made good on his promise of five minutes and then suddenly was alone with the car. He did as Mr. Thatcher had requested; he quickly parked and then went into the hospital and found a telephone.
"Yessir, they've taken her in. Don't know where, but Mr. Grant is sitting in the waiting room. Well, not sitting, more like... pacing," Thomas said, looking across a hallway to Nathan as he moved from the window to the chair and back to the window. He thought the poor man looked terrified.
"Sorry, sir, I'll speak up. Dr. Shepherd gave us all masks to wear whenever we're around other people. Yessir, the waiting room is full and Mr. Grant is wearing a mask too."
Thomas nodded, listening. "Yessir. Will do, sir. I'll stay here until I hear something." Taking a pause while William said something else, Thomas frowned in some confusion. "Well, I'm sure you're very welcome, sir. I'm happy to do it." Thomas hung up the phone, trying to remember another time that Mr. William Thatcher, shipping tycoon, had thanked him for doing what he paid him very well to do.
Thomas made sure the front desk nurse knew he was waiting for word about Mrs. Elizabeth Grant, and told her he'd be right outside in the car. She said she would come to the door and wave when there was any news, but that he shouldn't expect to hear for at least a couple of hours.
So Thomas had plenty of time to think. And what he thought about was how a doctor, a Mountie and a woman who had recently given birth were expected to not only drive 2400 miles in a car they didn't know – but also to care for a two-year-old and two newborns. And the longer Thomas thought about it, the more he knew he was going with them.
After an hour and a half, Thomas called Mr. Thatcher again, and this time he had a proposition for him.
"I know every inch of the Pullman, sir. I can fix anything on it if it breaks down. I can drive sixteen hours at a stretch without batting an eye. That way, when I sleep, one of them can take over, and we won't have to stop unless they want to. I've always wanted to see the West, sir, and well... they're just going to be pretty anxious to get home with those babies."
Thomas shook his head. "No, sir, not an imposition. And you don't have to pay me. I would consider it an honor." Thomas paused. "Well, that would be very generous, but I don't expect it, sir." Thomas looked over at Nathan again. He had his head almost between his knees, and with his eyes closed and his lips moving, Thomas was fairly sure the man was praying.
Thomas thought he might get out to the car and do a little of that himself.
After about four hours and twenty minutes, the desk nurse came to the door that led out of the hospital. Thomas had looked there so many times that he almost thought he'd imagined her.
He jumped out of the car and was up the ramp in seconds. She was smiling. A good sign.
"Mrs. Grant has two strong, healthy children. A boy and a girl. All three are doing well," the nurse said. Thomas wondered how often she had to give bad news to people, because she seemed pretty thrilled that the news was all good. "Are you a relative?" she asked, starting to walk back to her desk.
"No, Miss, I'm her father's chauffeur. I'm to report back to him," Thomas said, walking toward the public telephone.
The nurse smiled again, even wider. "Tell him he has two beautiful new grandchildren, and that his daughter is awake and doing very well. Mr. Grant is with her."
Thomas nodded vigorously. "I will, Miss. He'll be very glad to hear it."
Five minutes later, Thomas heard the relief in Mr. Thatcher's voice, and then heard him uncharacteristically laugh out loud. A booming laugh that was quite infectious. Thomas found he was chuckling a little himself.
"A boy and a girl, you said?" he asked Thomas. It sounded as if the entire family and some of the servants were around the phone.
"Yessir, a boy and a girl. Both strong and healthy," Thomas said.
Mr. Thatcher said, "They're naming the boy Nathan William." Mr. Thatcher paused, and Thomas wasn't quite sure how to respond.
"After me," William said.
Now Thomas was entirely at a loss. But there was a space to fill, so he took a shot. "That seems a great honor, sir," he said. And he believed it.
"Yes, it is, Thomas," William said enthusiastically. "Thank you."
The second thank you today, after never hearing it said once in his two-year employ, finally rendered Thomas speechless. Luckily, Mr. Thatcher had more to say. "Ask Nathan... Constable Grant, to call as soon as he can, please, Thomas."
"Yessir, I'll do that." He paused, thinking. "And shall I stay here, sir?"
"Yes. Please be at their disposal. Thank you, Thomas."
Three times saying thank you? Thomas wondered if grandchildren could be credited for changing a person's entire personality.
"You're very welcome, sir," Thomas said quickly, just before the line clicked off.
Well, life is just full of surprises, Thomas thought, still holding the phone receiver in his hand. Mr. William Thatcher, hard as nails in business, has a soft center for his family. Thomas took a deep breath and felt the excitement building inside him. And I'm going west!
Nathan had heard about parents who spent hours gazing at their children, inspecting the perfection of an eyelash or the symmetrical curve of an earlobe. And just when that task was completed, there would be the suddenly pursed lips or tiny protruding pink tongue, and it would start all over again.
Nathan was usually a man of action, unable to sit still for very long, yet here in the hospital room as Elizabeth slept, he was developing stiff muscles from inactivity. At one time or another, an arm or a foot had been asleep because he was too afraid to move it and wake Nate or Becca.
Twins look much more alike as tiny babies, regardless of gender. Nathan knew that they would grow up very differently, but for now he was able to see not only how alike they were, and also their individuality, their essence, their uniqueness.
Nathan knew all about being a twin. The desire, early on, to differentiate, while being inexorably drawn together like magnets.
"We will never dress you alike," he whispered softly to Becca. "That's a promise."
"I'm glad we agree on that," Elizabeth whispered back from the bed nearby. Nate was asleep in the rolling crib next to her and she didn't want to wake him. "I think it comes from a lack of imagination," she said, smiling at Nathan.
Elizabeth's smile grew until it was almost a grin. "You look very picturesque holding your daughter," Elizabeth said softly. "I wish I could paint you right now."
She looked over at Nate, whose breathing was strong and even against his curled up little fist. "They're so beautiful, Nathan," she said. Her voice quavered and shook as it often had in these last four days when she spoke about Nate and Becca. She remembered every tiny stage of her pregnancy and the fact that these precious human beings had slowly grown inside her was still something she couldn't quite wrap her mind around.
Nathan looked up, his eyes glassy. "Every parent thinks their children are beautiful, I know. But these two..." He shook his head in wonder. "They're exceptional, right?"
Elizabeth laughed. "You're asking me?" she said. "I'm a little biased."
Becca wiggled, stretching her neck in the way that Nathan had already come to recognize as hunger - and a precursor to wailing. "I think you're up to bat, Mom," he said to Elizabeth. He stood, careful not to jostle Becca. He put his nose down into the warm folds of her neck, giving her kisses. "It's okay, sweet girl, Mom has breakfast ready," he said softly. Elizabeth was already untying her nightgown and pulling one side open.
Nathan placed Becca gently on the pillow that Elizabeth had moved onto her lap to protect the healing sutures there. "Smart girl," he laughed softly to his daughter, as Becca turned her head in exactly the right direction and latched on. The wiggling stopped, and Nathan sat down by the bed with his head on the pillow next to Becca, watching as her tiny fingers slowly splayed out and curled in, over and over.
Elizabeth put her hand on Nathan's head and ran her fingers tenderly through his hair. "She already has you completely charmed, doesn't she?" Elizabeth said. She smiled at him. "What are you going to do when boys come to call?"
Nathan looked up at her. "Well, I'll be fine with it," he said with his crooked smile. "I'll just tell them to come back when she's about thirty-five."
Elizabeth laughed. "You'll be there much sooner with Allie, you know."
Nathan narrowed his eyes and looked at Elizabeth. "Allie's still just a little girl," he said. When Elizabeth continued to smile at him, Nathan said softly, "What are you not telling me?"
Smiling, Elizabeth raised her eyebrows. "Oh, I don't know. That somehow Robert always manages to sit next to her in class. And when I have the children find a partner, they always seem to find each other."
Nathan's eyes narrowed further.
"Aww," Elizabeth said in sympathy, seeing the baffled look that squashed Nathan's crooked smile. She tousled his hair lightly. "It's going to happen someday, you know that, right?"
Nathan looked down at Becca's perfect toes, wiggling in her happiness. "I remember Allie like this," he said. "I didn't have her all the time until she was four, but up to then, I still saw her a lot." Nathan bent down and kissed Becca's perfect little foot tenderly. He looked up at Elizabeth and sighed.
Elizabeth tilted her head and took Nathan's hand. She drew him up to her, moving him forward until his lips were on hers. They held there, with Becca on one side at Elizabeth's breast, and Nate on the other side, sleeping soundly.
"A-hem," Carson said from the doorway, grinning. "I can come back later if you want?"
Both Nathan and Elizabeth turned and said "No, no, come in." Elizabeth already had rosy cheeks, but they started to move into a scarlet hue.
Carson stepped in and looked down at Becca. "Both still feeding well?' he asked.
"Ravenous," Elizabeth said, laughing. "Just as you said, every two or three hours. And at about two this morning they were both hungry at the same time and we did what you told us..."
Nathan nodded, "And it worked! I just brought Nate over and put him on the pillow here, and Elizabeth had Becca on the other side... Nate eats faster and then falls asleep, Becca's slower..."
Elizabeth said, "...but then she lasts longer before she's hungry again..."
Nathan said, "...and that's how they got back on different schedules, but for that moment..."
Carson was laughing, feeling like he was watching a tennis match. Then all three of them started laughing, just releasing the joy that was overflowing.
"How much sleep are you two getting?" Carson asked, looking over at the rollaway bed that had been brought in for Nathan and looked like it might end about at his knees when he was lying down.
Nathan and Elizabeth looked at each other and laughed softly. "It's challenging," Nathan said. "The babies wake us up and then they go back to sleep and we're still talking." The soft look Nathan gave Elizabeth was the same one she was giving back to him.
Carson raised his eyebrows. "You need your sleep. We have a long drive ahead of us. And in fact, I have good news..." he said, sitting down in the chair by the side of the bed, "...you're being released from the hospital tomorrow morning. Becca and Nate are thriving and your sutures look very good." Carson sighed and smiled at them. "We can go home. To Hope Valley."
Nathan and Elizabeth looked back at each other, grinning. Home. They had now been in Hamilton for over a month.
During that time, Nathan had talked at length on the telephone with Bill about Mountie issues, but their conversations had also segued into other areas; parenthood and navigating the extended stay with in-laws. Nathan was finding Bill to be an increasingly valuable sounding board, mentor, and friend. He missed him.
Elizabeth had talked with Rosemary the most, and both she and Nathan had spoken often with Allie and Archie. They all missed each other deeply, and the entire town was looking forward to meeting its new residents, Nathan William Grant and Rebecca Julia Grant. Bill had all the papers drawn up to welcome them as citizens of Hope Valley.
Before Carson left town, he and Faith had called a meeting to discuss the Spanish flu. Bill had taken charge and had asked townspeople to cancel any plans they'd made for train travel, and all but one had agreed.
Margaret Cooper had stood up and said she'd lived through worse than a little bout of the flu and she would not put off her trip to see her sister in Medicine Hat. She said she went every year at this time and saw no reason to alter her plans.
Bill was already planning to have volunteers at the train station, in masks, ready to talk to anyone getting off at the town. They were equipped with thermometers and formal paperwork mandating an examination, signed by Judge Avery of Hope Valley. Before anyone entered the town, they had to have a clean bill of health from Faith.
So far, Hope Valley had shown no evidence of cases of the Spanish flu.
In later years, Dr. Carson Shepherd would be honored by the Canadian Medical Association in Quebec City for saving a town. Hope Valley would be one of the rare places along the railroad lines that would record only one death, and not even within the town boundaries. A Mrs. Margaret Cooper would pass away in Medicine Hat while visiting her sister, and tragically, her sister would follow her quickly in death. Both would die from the Spanish flu.
But for now, Carson had other news. "Do you remember Thomas, the young man who drove us here to the hospital?"
Both Nathan and Elizabeth nodded.
"He's volunteered to come with us. To do most of the driving, so that we can concentrate on Jack and the babies," Carson said.
"And my father agreed to that?" Elizabeth said, her gratitude showing clearly on her face.
Carson laughed softly. "He's paying him to do it. Although Thomas said he would do it for free. Said he's always wanted to see the wild West."
Nathan laughed. "We may need to get a little wilder to satisfy him. I hope he's not disappointed in our sleepy little town." Nathan's eyes were glistening. How had he ever thought he could live in a place other than Hope Valley? He suddenly couldn't wait to get home.
The three of them were quiet for a moment; Carson missing Faith and Nathan and Elizabeth missing so many. They looked down at the children that had brought them here.
Nathan put his finger out to touch Becca's hand, and she quickly wrapped hers tightly around it. She turned her head and looked at her father with soulful eyes, and Elizabeth pulled her nightgown around her again.
And like clockwork, Nate stirred in the rolling crib beside her and began to cry softly, and it was quickly escalating. Nathan pulled his finger gently from Becca's grasp and reached down to pick up Nate.
"Now you, little man?" he said tenderly, holding his son close. Carson watched, smiling and thinking that Nathan was becoming pretty expert at this. With one arm holding Nate, Nathan moved the pillow into position and kissed his son softly, laying him down at Elizabeth's other breast. Nate's crying stopped immediately and Nathan lifted Becca into his arms. He bounced gently and patted her back until he heard the desired burp and then he made his way over to the changing table. Carson and Elizabeth watched as Nathan changed Becca's diaper, talking and making faces to her the whole time.
When Carson looked down at Elizabeth, she had tears in her eyes. She looked up at him and he saw pure love there.
Carson smiled and nodded, backing quietly out of the room. He had a sudden and undeniable desire to talk to Faith. To tell her how much he loved her. And to tell her that they were coming home.