"Are you ready for the Christmas Eve concert?" Nathan asked Elizabeth as he walked her home after church the following day. He was carrying Little Jack who was contently looking around at his surroundings.

Ally was ahead of them walking with Rosemary, Bridget and Ivy.

"I could ask you the same thing," Elizabeth replied.

"Oh, believe me, I'm ready. Ally has insisted on practicing the song at least once every evening for the past week," Nathan told her. "Part of me still wishes I never agreed to do it. I'm not looking forward to being up in front of so many people. I think the most I've ever played in front of is like five. Even then, it's usually just family, or Gabe who might as well be family."

"You'll do fine," Elizabeth told him reassuringly, reaching up to pat his shoulder.

"Are you performing?"

"I am," Elizabeth told him. "I'm going to sing 'Come All 'ye Faithful." Bill's helping a few of the kids do "The Twelve Days of Christmas." Rosemary is going to sing "Silent Night." Robert wanted to do some Christmas themed magic tricks. Of course the choir is going to sing at the beginning and the end of the performance. Bridget and Ivy asked last week if they could still be apart of the performance. They're going to sing "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" as it was their mother's favorite. I do hope they can get through the song."

"Well, I think people will be understanding if they can't," Nathan said. "And it sounds as if you're going to have your hands full."

"It is a lot of work," Elizabeth admitted. "However, I enjoy it. It's fun as well and the townsfolk enjoy it."

"Fun is not a word I would choose to use," Nathan commented.

"You'll be fine," Elizabeth assured him, managing not to laugh but unable to keep the smile off of her face. "So, what are we going to do about Christmas Day this year? I know you and Ally go fishing, and you'll still want to do that, but I would like to see my fiancé and his daughter on Christmas Day."

"How about we plan on having Christmas dinner together," Nathan suggested. "As this might be the last Christmas that it's just Ally and me, I'd like to spend Christmas morning just with Ally. Though she's excited about our engagement, she's also made comments that indicate to me that she's struggling with the idea of not having me to herself."

"It's going to be a change for her," Elizabeth agreed. "I don't think it'll affect Little Jack so much, but there will be an adjustment for Ally. I think the four of us having Christmas dinner together is a good way to start this year."

"Dinner together it is then. Your house or ours?"

"Let's do it at my house," Elizabeth said. "I can make a ham, the biscuits, and a couple of pies for dessert and perhaps you and Ally can bring some side dishes."

"Sounds like a plan," Nathan replied. "It is just going to be the four of us, right?"

"Well, at least for this year," Elizabeth replied. "Who knows what the future might hold for us. I'll try not to invite twenty members of my family at one time though," she teased remembering his reaction to her story last year about some of the family Christmases she'd enjoyed growing up.

"If you do, don't be surprise if some out of town assignment comes up," Nathan replied.

Elizabeth swatted his arm, though she had a feeling he was only half joking. Somehow, she could see her soon to be husband being scarce if a whole bunch of her family descended on their little town all at once.

"Although, as we're on the subject of your family, I have a confession to make," Nathan continued. The serious tone of his voice drew Elizabeth's attention. She looked over at him as they continued walking.

"I called and talked to your father awhile back. I wanted to ask for his blessing to ask you to marry him."

"I'm sorry," Elizabeth replied. "I hope he wasn't too hard on you."

Nathan smiled. "It didn't go as bad as I was expecting it to, given what you, Julie and Edward had told me. I can't say he was thrilled to hear from me, but he seemed to grudgingly accept the idea. He did however ask me to talk to you about going East to see them. Seems he would like to meet me before the wedding."

"How would you feel about that?" Elizabeth asked, a little surprised by the report. Given her parents' reaction to her relationship with Jack, she had been sure they would be even more against her being involved with another Mountie.

"I'd like to meet your family, Elizabeth. No matter how they feel about me, they're still your family and therefore will soon be a part of mine. Besides, I survived meeting Julie, didn't I?"

Elizabeth chuckled. "Julie is a kitten compared to my father," she said. "Though, you did manage to get his blessing, which I find impressive. I think they'll like you. I know they'll fall in love with Ally."

"Then perhaps we need to plan a trip to Hamilton after the holidays," Nathan suggested.

"Could you get the time off?" Elizabeth asked.

Nathan laughed. "Headquarters is constantly reminding me that I don't take my leave like I should. They do realize we're human, and that we need time off work so that the job doesn't cause too much stress. They'll probably be thrilled to hear that I'm voluntarily taking a vacation. What about you? Is there anyone who can take over teaching for a couple of weeks?"

Elizabeth nodded. "I think I can persuade some people to cover for me," she said. Her friends had covered classes in the past for her. She was sure that the ladies of Hope Valley would help her figure something out again, especially Rosemary.

"Then my suggestion is we concentrate on planning a trip to Hamilton and then work out the details of the wedding after that. Perhaps you might like to do some planning with your mother and sisters while in Hamilton."

Elizabeth nodded. "I like that plan," she told him even as Ally called out for his attention.

"Dad, Bridget, Ivy and I are going to have a snowball fight while Mrs. Coulter gets lunch ready. Will you join us?"

"Sounds like fun," Nathan told her. "I'll be right with you."

Elizabeth reached out for Little Jack. "I think you're still a bit to little to be having a snowball fight, my sweet boy," she said as Nathan handed Jack over to her.

"I'll teach you how to throw a snowball next year," Nathan told the little boy.

"Snowball?" Jack asked, clearly not sure what the word met.

Nathan bent over, scooped up a bit of snow and made a tiny little snowball. Straightening up, Nathan placed the toddler-sized snowball into Jack's mittened hand.

"That's a snowball, Jack," Nathan told the little boy.

Little Jack smiled, looking at the ball of snow in his hand and then back up at Nathan. He then tossed the concoction at Nathan. As the Mountie was standing so close to Elizabeth and Jack, the tiny creation hit him and broke apart against his brown coat causing Elizabeth, Rosemary and the children to laugh.

"Looks like he already knows what to do with them," Nathan commented with a smile, reaching out to lay a gentle hand on the back of Jack's head for a moment. Dropping his hand, Nathan gave Elizabeth a kiss, telling her. "Call us when lunch is ready."

With that, Nathan hurried off with the three girls to find a good spot for their snowball fight nearby. Elizabeth shook her head, as she watched them for a moment.

"I almost wish I could join them," Elizabeth said, looking over at Rosemary.

"Not me," Rosemary said. "I'll leave the romping in the snow to the children and the men who want to act like little boys," she commented.


Lee looked over at his passenger. After the initial greeting in Union City, Constable Brian Peterson had been quiet. As the young man looked pensive, Lee hadn't tried to engage him in small talk. The young man had a huge life decision weighing on his shoulders. A decision that affected not only him, but his two young sisters as well.

After a brief glance, Lee returned his attention to the road. The snow Friday night had made the roads more difficult to travel, and therefore Lee was driving slowly. The last thing he wanted to do was get the car stuck because he hit a patch of ice.

"Do they know I'm coming?" Brian asked a short time later, breaking the silence.

"No," Lee replied, knowing that Brian was referring to Bridget and Ivy. "We simply told them I was going to be away on an errand today. We thought that you just showing up would be better than them waiting around in anticipation."

"That's good," Brian commented as he nodded his head, looking out the window. He watched the scenery go by slowly.

Lee let the silence go. There were questions that he wanted to ask but he didn't want to pressure the young man. The lumber entrepreneur figured that if the young man wanted to talk, he would. If he wasn't ready to talk on his own, then Lee figured it was best to give Brian some time to settle in before he started asking questions.

"I had thought bringing my mother and sisters to Unity was the best for everyone involved. My father wasn't the best of men. He never hit any of us and he did love us. I know that. However, he did have a temper and an addiction to gambling. I learned young just to steer clear of him when he was in a bad mood because even a simple thing like knocking over a cup would get him to yelling. It didn't surprise me when I got the word that his temper and gambling problem had gotten him killed."

"My mother had always worked to put food on our table. Whether or not my father could provide things for us, depended on his luck at the poker table. He usually managed to pay the bank loan and have money for clothes and things when we needed them, but my mother wanted to at least know there was food on the table. She could've kept caring for Bridget and Ivy on her own. She would have found a way. That was just the kind of person she was. It was I that asked her to come live with me. I wanted her close by in case she needed help with anything. If I hadn't asked her to come to Unity, she'd still be alive."

"What happened wasn't your fault, Briant," Lee replied, not sure if anything he said would convince the young man otherwise. He knew he had to try though. "It was a tragic accident. Nobody is blaming you for what happened, so don't blame yourself."

"I keep waiting for Bridget or Ivy to blame me for getting their mother killed."

"Those two girls are just thankful they didn't lose you too," Lee told him. "From what I heard about the accident, even that wasn't your fault. Constable Stevens, who has been continuing the accident, finally managed to track down the driver of the car. He had fled the accident scene leaving the car. When Constable Stevens took the car back to Maple Hill, some people recognized it. The man had left Maple Hill the same night of the accident after winning some money in a poke game. He had been drinking. The owner of the saloon had tried to convince him to stay the night. Even offered him a free room, but he left."

"It doesn't surprise me that the driver of that car was drinking. Not only was his driving erratic but he was going way too fast. He appeared out of nowhere and I had no time to react."

"Then you remember what happened?" Lee commented. He still couldn't remember actually getting hurt. He remembered going out to look for Jesse the day of the windstorm and then waking up in the infirmary. Carson said that it was nothing to worry about.

"I wish I didn't," Brian replied. "I'd probably sleep better if I couldn't remember the accident."

If the roads weren't so snow covered, Lee would have reached out and put a comforting hand on the young man's shoulder. As they were, he kept two hands on the steering wheel.

"It took awhile, but Constable Stevens was able to track down the man driving the car. He confessed about causing the accident and about panicking and fleeing when he saw your sister. It seemed once sober, he felt remorse though he was afraid to come forward. He's in jail now."

"Superintendent O'Reilly told me that much though he didn't give me any of the other details."

"Maybe if the guy hadn't run in the first place things would have turned out differently," Lee commented. The two girls would have been spared wandering around the woods on their own. Brian would have gotten medical attention sooner, which could have perhaps shortened his recovery time.

"If he had hung around, Bridget and Ivy probably would have never come to stay with you and your wife," Brian said. "I'm thankful that they've been with people who care about them. Who've been concerned about me. I think God meant for Bridget and Ivy to find their way to you and your wife."

Lee considered the young man's words. He had to concede that Brian made a good point. A lot of variables had to happen just right for the girls to cross paths with Gabriel and Lillian that day. If Gabriel and Lillian had left Hope Valley earlier or later than what they did, they might not have found Bridget and Ivy. The girls could have gotten lost in the woods. They could have sat down and rested and not been on the roadside when Gabriel and Lillian were driving by. They could have found their brother when they left the road and simply have stayed with him instead of wandering through the woods.

"You may be right about that," Lee commented. "Either way, Rosie and I are happy to have you and your sisters sharing the holidays with us."

"Thank-you for opening your home to us," Brian said.

"You're welcome," Lee replied simply, leaving it at that.