Wrapping her shawl tighter around her shoulders, Dorcas picked up a poker and started to stoke the small blaze in the fireplace.

"May I?"

Turning, she saw Gabriel watching her. With a smile, she handed him the poker.

"Of course! I am so used to taking care of these things myself," she told him. "But it's nice having you here to handle them now."

Gabriel stoked the fire, which popped and crackled in response. Bright yellow flames burst forth.

Dorcas, who'd taken a seat on the sofa, studied him as he worked. She admired his handsome face, illuminated in the firelight. When he finished with the poker, Gabriel joined her.

"Have I earned my keep for today?" Gabriel teased, pulling her into his arms.

"Indeed," Dorcas told him. Then she planted a kiss on his lips, stroking his cheek as she did so.

Gabriel frowned as he gazed into the fire.

"Where is Sydney? The wind is getting worse. I'd like him to come home now."

"He was at Thomas and Margaret's. Apparently, Amelia Cordelia has taken quite a liking to our son and the feeling is mutual."

"And when will we begin setting up a home for the inevitable dog our son will bring home from one of his adventures?"

Dorcas fixed Gabriel with a wry grin.

"That will not happen. Sydney knows that having a dog here in the Post Office is…"

She frowned, seeking just the right word.

"... impossible right now."

"But Amelia has become something of a fixture here," Gabriel pointed out. "Just last week, you were delighted when she seemed interested in the telegraph machine and…"

Dorcas sighed.

"Must you continually contradict me?"

With a shrug, Gabriel pressed on.

"Not continually. Only as necessary."

Dorcas raised an eyebrow at him.

"It is one of your one weaknesses," she teased.

"Indeed," Gabriel told her.

Just then, Sydney bolted into the room with his four-legged admirer bounding after him. As he turned to race up the stairs, Dorcas called out to him.

"Sydney!"

The boy spun around, nearly falling down in the process.

"Yes, Ma?" he answered breathlessly.

"Come down here," Dorcas told him.

Sydney slowly came down the stairs, taking a seat near the sofa where his parents sat. Amelia leaped onto his lap.

"Now, then," Dorcas began, "Sydney. What is all this running around? You've never… raced past us like this before." She cocked her head slightly to the side, frowning. "Is there anything you wish to tell us?"

Sydney and Gabriel exchanged a look, Gabriel offering his son a slight grin. Dorcas, catching him, glared at her husband. Gabriel looked away, knowing he'd made a tactical error that he'd hear about later.

Dorcas returned her attention to Sydney.

"I'm waiting," she said, her tone abrupt.

Sydney took off his glasses and, nervously cleaning them, started to answer.

"Ma," he said slowly, "I haven't done anything wrong, I promise."

This got Dorcas pricking up her ears.

"I did not say that you have," she told the boy. Cutting her eyes again at Gabriel, Dorcas silently signaled to him for help in this matter.

"Sydney," Gabriel said in his usual mild way, "have you and Amelia here been adventuring today? Your mother and I would love to hear about it, if so. That is all."

Dorcas clenched her jaw. She felt a bit outmatched at the moment, the two men in her life seemingly siding together as if they thought she was taking things a bit too seriously. A tiny voice inside her told her that, in fact, she might be.

Pulling Amelia into his arms, Sydney patted the dog's head.

"We were on the errand you gave us this afternoon, Ma," Sydney told Dorcas. "And we saw something in the woods. But we left it there. Because we - I mean, I - knew I couldn't bring it home."

"What did you find?" Dorcas asked.

Sydney seemed reluctant to answer. Looking to Gabriel, he swallowed and said, "A pair of puppies."

Dorcas sighed, feeling awful for having been harsh to her son. She offered him, and then Gabriel, an apologetic look.

"Oh, Sydney," she said, "I'm sorry I got upset with you. I must remember that you are growing up and you will be out and about more and more." She paused. "Where did you find the puppies?"

"Just outside of town. By the creek," Sydney told her. "I was going up to my room, Ma. To get a blanket so they won't be cold tonight. It's so windy out and…"

"Go on," Dorcas said softly. "Get the blanket. We will bring them here so they can stay warm. But only until we can find homes for them."

"Thank you, Ma!" Sydney cried. He and Amelia raced back upstairs.

"You stay here, my love," Gabriel said to his wife. "Keep the fire going and we'll be back quickly. No need for all of us to go out in this weather."

The wind howled, smacking against the windows.

"Did I not tell you the boy would bring home new friends?" Gabriel teased, planting a kiss on Dorcas' cheek.

Dorcas looked over at Gabriel, who was grinning at her in the firelight.

"Oh, stop it," she told him jokingly. "You know puppies are … my one weakness."

When Sydney and Gabriel returned with the puppies snuggled in Sydney's blanket, Dorcas was stoking the fire again. But now, Thomas and Margaret Brown had joined her. Amelia, who had stayed behind, sat up straight.

"Your family continues getting larger," Margaret said to Dorcas.

"Indeed," Dorcas said, privately knowing the puppies would become a permanent part of the household. Dogs in the Post Office, she thought. My father would never approve.

"I daresay you'll be all the more blessed with these pups in your life, Miss Lane - I mean, Mrs. Cochrane," Thomas said, catching himself. "I'm sorry, ma'am. I've not yet become used to your new title."

Dorcas smiled kindly at him.

"Thomas, I understand. If you happen to call me Miss Lane every so often, we will pay it no mind. I know you are addressing me."

"The Lord has seen fit to bring these babes to your door. To everything there is a purpose," Thomas continued.

"Thank you, Thomas," Dorcas sighed, forcing a smile.

Letting the fire be, she ventured to where Gabriel, Sydney, Margaret and Thomas stood, looking down at the two tiny animals. The pups' eyes hadn't yet opened and they snuggled together, quivering, in the warmth of the blanket.

"Ma, please?" Sydney asked. "Can we keep them?"

Dorcas and Gabriel looked at one another, then down to where their son knelt, making sure the puppies were warm enough. Amelia, her motherly instincts kicking in, sniffed at the pair and gingerly licked them clean.

"Perhaps when they grow enough," Gabriel said, "we can move them into the quarters near the forge."

Dorcas, pleased by this idea and by her husband's ability to find compromise where even she didn't think of it, smiled up at him. Gabriel put his arm around her waist, pulling her gently to his side.

"Amelia seems taken with them," Margaret pointed out, "so I doubt they'll want for a mother."

"You are right, my dear," Thomas agreed. "She does know where she is needed."

"Ma?"

The firelight glinted off Sydney's glasses. Nodding her approval, Dorcas offered him, and their new additions, a tender grin.

"Well, then," she said to the group, "this is an occasion to celebrate. Shall we all have some cake?"

"Which we all know," Gabriel joked, "is your one weakness, my darling."

"Indeed."