A howling wind, ripping through trees and around their house, woke Jack and Elizabeth out of a deep sleep the next morning. The sound was eerie, like the howling of a lone wolf at the edge of the woods. The usual bright sunlight that would spill into their bedroom, beckoning them to get out of bed and begin their day, was not making an appearance that morning. Instead, it had been replaced by a dim, grey light; barely strong enough to make it through their thin curtains.

"What time is it?" Elizabeth asked Jack.

Jack looked at the little clock on the side table. "It's after 9."

Elizabeth sat straight up and threw the quilt off, grabbed her robe and disappeared out the door. Jack knew she was checking on the twins and by the lack of noise coming from their room, he also knew that they were still asleep. When Elizabeth returned, Jack was standing in the doorway, arms crossed, grinning.

"Still sleeping?" He asked and flashed his bright smile.

Elizabeth made a face at him and answered with, "still sleeping" followed by a nod.

Jack looked toward the large window in their front room, cocked his head sideways slightly and had a questioning frown on his face. He stepped forward and walked toward the window.

"What's wrong?" Elizabeth asked as she following his gaze.

Jack pulled the sheer curtain back so he could see outside easier, to find that it had snowed overnight, all night. There was at least two feet of snow covering everything in sight and more was still falling.

"Oh my gosh," Elizabeth said, in a breathy voice.

Jack looked at her, wide eyed, then looked out the window again. His mind was going crazy trying to figure out what they would do. There would be no way to get the buggy out for any reason. He wasn't even sure if Sergeant could make it to town if needed. It was Sunday, so no need to go anywhere today. Elizabeth is on Christmas break from school so that was good. But Jack would need to get to work on Monday morning and he wasn't at all sure how he would do that.

Jack crossed the floor to look out the back door and check on the horses. The snow had drifted against the door, leaving a three-foot drift that he would have to step over in order to get out. The horses were not in sight; they were undoubtedly making refuge inside the barn.

He closed the door and joined Elizabeth in the kitchen, where she had already started the coffee. The room quickly began to fill with the welcoming and energizing scent of the coffee beans meeting the scalding hot water.

"What are you going to do?" Elizabeth finally asked him.

"Well, first, I'm going to scoop out all this snow that has drifted up against the back door so that I can get out. I'll make a path out to the barn. But I'm sure it will be futile against the still falling snow. It will probably fill back in quickly but I still need to try to stay ahead of it as much as I can." Jack took a sip of his now ready coffee. "I'll get the horses tended to then we will just have to hold up here today."

"What about tomorrow?" She asked with concern in her voice.

"I will have to figure that out tomorrow after we see what happens today." He took another sip, letting it linger in his mouth and he thought of what he might do. "I'll have to get Sergeant out and see if he'll be able to make the trek into town."

"Oh, Jack. But that could be so dangerous." The worry in her face was multiplying, almost to tears.

"I'll be careful. I'll know right away if I think Sergeant will be able to make it or not. If not, we'll turn around and come back home."

The slightest relief entered Elizabeth, but much worry remained. She knew her husband and how determined he got when it came to his job. She knew he would push Sergeant to his fullest and attempt to make it to work, even if Sergeant was telling him not to.

Jack shoveled a path from the back door to the barn, got the horses fed and settled inside the barn, and then returned to the house where Elizabeth had lunch waiting and the twins eating already.

"Jack, you should thaw out by the stove. You look positively frozen." Elizabeth remarked after seeing Jack's red nose and cheeks.

"It has gotten worse out there. I think the temperature has dropped more since this morning. I had to put blankets on the horses; they were shivering even inside the barn."

Jack began peeling off the extra layers of coat, sweater, flannel, scarf, hat and gloves before pulling a chair over to the woodstove.

"Will they be okay in this weather?"

"Yes, they'll be fine. The barn will keep them safe from the bitter wind and the blankets will help. Their winter coats have filled in quite nicely this year so they'll be alright. I'll just need to go out there and change out their water buckets a few times throughout the day and bring the frozen ones in here to thaw. They go through a lot of water on days like these."

Jack was sitting in front of the stove, his hands outreached, palms out, trying to warm up his hands. Elizabeth brought him a hot cup of coffee and Jack gladly took it, holding it between both hands, using the heat to speed up the warming. "Thank you, Sweetheart," he said smiling when she handed it to him.

Elizabeth bent down and kissed his cheek. She stood, looking at him wide eyed. "Jack, your cheek is freezing."

"Yes, it has gotten very cold out there. Should only be out there for a few minutes at time right now to keep from getting frostbite."

"Well, we need to get you warmed up." Elizabeth grabbed the quilt from the back of the couch and wrapped it around Jack. She then began to open the woodstove to add more fire wood, when Jack stopped her.

"I'll get that." He said, picking up the next piece of maple wood.

"I can do it, Jack."

"I know you can, Elizabeth. But I'll get it. Okay?"

Elizabeth stepped back and let Jack stoke the fire and add more wood. He closed the door and turned to his wife, wrapping the quilt around them both, and pulling her into a warm embrace and kiss.

"I love you, Mrs. Thornton."

"I love you too, Constable." She gave him a quick kiss on the mouth. "Now, I have to get back to lunch before it burns."

Jack returned to his seat in front the stove, still trying to get the last of the chill out of his body. Once he felt the final remnants of bitter winter cold leave his body, he tossed the quilt off and joined Elizabeth in the kitchen.

"Need some help?" Jack asked as he began picking small chunks of fruit and vegetables up off the floor that the twins and dropped. Joey thought it was a fun game and began tossing the rest of meal onto the floor and onto his daddy. "Hey there, you!" Jack said as he began to tickle his son. "You think that's funny to throw food on me?"

Joey began to laugh; that large, infectious baby laugh that no person can refuse to join in with them. Lilly began to giggle at the sight of the two and the laughter emanating from them. Jack had one hand tickling Joey and the other doing the same to his daughter. The house filled with the joyous sounds of the twins and their daddy. Jack's laugh was just as heartwarming as the twin's. Elizabeth stood back, leaning against the wall with one shoulder, arms crossed, smiling. Taking in the scene before her. Loving her life.

Jack straightened up and turned to find Elizabeth watching them, still smiling. He picked up a handful of chopped carrots and gave her his boyish, troublemaking grin; eyes narrowed, brow furrowed, the corner of his mouth turned up ever so slightly.

Elizabeth began to step backwards, her hands out in front of her waving back and forth. "Don't you dare, Jack. Don't.."

But her pleading fell empty against the man before her, as he raised his arm, hand loaded with a carrot. He fired, hitting Elizabeth in the shoulder. The twins burst out in laughter, louder than they had ever heard, and joined in with their daddy. One by one, Jack and the twins emptied their bowls of carrots, beans and peaches. Throwing them one by one at Elizabeth. The twins' attempts landed only a few feet in front of their highchairs, but Jack's made it across the room; most of them making contact with their target.

Elizabeth squealed with each hit, covering her head in an attempt to keep the food from her hair. When it stopped, solely due to the fact that they ran out of food; Elizabeth began to pick up pieces from the floor and returning fire on her husband.

Jack covered his head and charged toward his wife, grabbing her by the waist and spinning her around. Elizabeth screamed as he twirled her, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. Jack stopped and lowered her to the floor. Her neatly pinned back hair had mostly fallen down, cascading around her face, across her shoulders and down her back. Jack, with a hand on either side of her face, smoothed her hair back and tucked it behind her ears. Then pulling her face toward his, he kissed her with such passion that she thought her knees might buckle and she'd fall to the floor. Jack felt her unsteadiness and wrapped one arm around her waist for support, the other hand remained with his fingers curved behind her neck, holding her for their lingering kiss.

When they both pulled back, only to catch their breath, they looked into each other's eyes and smiled. Jack reached up and picked a few pieces of food from her hair and they both began to laugh again, joined by the twins.

When they were finally able to compose themselves, Elizabeth returned the final preparations of their lunch while Jack took on the task of cleaning up all the evidence of their food fight. They sat and enjoyed the meal together, giving the twins some more food to replace what had been lost in fun, while the weather outside continued with its assault over the land, adding inch after inch of more snow to the already impassable amount that had fallen.

Later that afternoon, Jack returned to the barn to swap out the water buckets for the horses. His path that he'd shoveled that morning had all but filled in, making his trek that much harder. But it was too cold for him to attempt to clear it again. He returned with the frozen buckets and placed them next to the stove to assist in their thawing.

"How are the horses?" Elizabeth asked him with real concern.

"They are fine. Eating away. I gave them extra hay to eat to help warm them up."

They spent the remainder of day doing things around the house. Elizabeth did some cleaning while Jack fixed a few things that had needed his attention for a while. The twins played, unaware of the dangerous cold that lingered outside. Jack had to make two more trips to the barn to change out the water buckets, while Elizabeth would stand and watch from the window; worried for her husband's safety. Holding her breath each time until he reappeared from the barn and made his way back to the house. Luckily, Jack had stacked most of the firewood along the porch just outside the door only a few days before; so, restocking the wood inside the house had been much easier than it would have been had the wood still been along the side of the house. The snow would have buried it, making it near impossible for him to reach it. Between that and the cold, Jack wasn't sure he would have been able to get more into the house. He thanked God that morning for giving him the sense to do so.

Elizabeth had made a few phone calls, checking on those that she could. Everyone that she was able to speak to were fine. A few mentioned that they checked on their nearby neighbors and all had been well. She felt a little better, but there were some families that lived too far out to check on that she continued to worry about.

The snow outside had slowed some through the day, but the fierce wind still continued to whip through the meadow like a lion after its prey. The roaring sound that the wind would make when it found its way through the tiniest of spaces in the house, made Elizabeth shudder. The drifts it was building against the house and barn had gone well over Jack's head now. She was thankful they had the barn to protect the horses or she might have momentarily lost her mind and insisted that they join them in the house.

The day dragged by, Jack and Elizabeth taking turns looking out the windows to see how bad it was getting. The snow had finally stopped just before supper but the damage was done; at least three feet of snow had fallen in less than a day though it was hard to tell for sure with the drifts being over five feet at places. The wind had also begun to subside; still blowing, but the howling had almost stopped completely. This fact was a relief to Elizabeth, she wasn't sure how much longer she could take the roaring wind whipping around and through the house.

Supper time was quieter than usual; Jack and Elizabeth had kept busy working around the house and had worn themselves out; the twins' nap did not last very long due to the loud wind scaring them from their sleep so they were tired as well. Everyone pushed around their food, only eating a portion of it.

Everyone turned in early that night. Dishes done and the kitchen cleaned up, horses taken care of, twins tucked in for the night: Jack and Elizabeth both were asleep as soon as their heads hit their pillows.

The following morning, they were both woken by warm, bright sunbeams glistening across their faces. Jack stretched out and wrapped his arms around his wife and pulled her in close to him. He nuzzled his face into her neck and both fell back to sleep for a short while longer.

When Elizabeth finally woke, she rolled over to face Jack but he was not in bed. She got up, grabbed her robe and slowly made her way to the kitchen; but still no Jack. She could hear faint voices coming from the twins' room and tip toed to their doorway.

On the floor was Jack and the twins. Jack was sitting with his back against the wall, legs out straight, with a twin on each leg. He held a book in front of them and was softly reading it, changing his voice with each character. The twins each took turns looking between the book then up at their father's face as he changed the sound of his voice to match the current character. There was an occasional giggle from one or the other, or both, but mostly they remained entranced by his words.

Elizabeth quietly leaned in the doorway and watched as he read to them. A high-pitched voice for a little lamb that was hopping through a field. A low voice for a wolf that approached the lamb. He would speed up his talking when the story called for it and slowed it way down at important parts. Joey would stare at Jack's mouth whenever he'd make animals noises or the sound of a horse's hooves galloping through a town. Lilly was drawn in by the little girl's voice that Jack gave the lamb.

When he reached the end of the book, both of them would start slapping the book and say "mo, dadda. Mo."

Jack laughed and pick up another book; again, giving each character their own distinct voice. This time there was a princess and a prince. Elizabeth knew this story as it was one of her favorites as a kid. But what Jack was reading wasn't matching what she remembered. He was making the story about them; the princess was a school teacher and the prince was now a Mountie.

Elizabeth stayed unnoticed in the doorway as she listened. Her hand was over her heart as she listened to Jack sharing their story with the twins but he mixed it with the actual story about the prince and the princess.

When he finished and closed the book, Elizabeth took a step into the room. "I like that version much better."

Jack jumped as Elizabeth spoke, "Oh, you scared me." Jack looked up at her. "Wait, how long have you been standing there?"

"Since the lamb was talking to the wolf." She grinned at him, her eyes shining.

Jack felt his cheeks grow warm, "Oh."

"Yep." She added, still grinning. "I do like your story better."

"Well, you know. A little rewrite never hurt." He started grinning too.

"Momma," Lilly said and reached up toward Elizabeth.

Elizabeth bend down and picked her up. Lilly wrapped her arms tight around Elizabeth's neck and squeezed. "Hi, momma." she leaned her head back and planted an open-mouthed kiss on Elizabeth mouth, drool running down both of their chins.

"Good morning, Sweetie. Thank you for all that drool," she said as she wiped her face with her hand.

"Yes, I have been getting that all morning too," Jack said as he stood with Joey.

Elizabeth pulled Lilly's lip down to reveal the teeth that she had showing so far; Lilly curled her top lip up into her silly fake smile. Two on top and two on the bottom were completely in with two more on top and two more on the bottom all at different stages of making their way out.

"I can't believe how fast they are growing." Elizabeth said as she rubbed Lillian's gums, checking for more.

"I know. I'll be walking her down the aisle before we know it." Jack said as he tossed Joey up and caught him, their favorite pastime.

"Jack! We don't need to jump that far ahead. We have a lot of time before that day."

Jack laughed, "I know, Sweetheart. But I think that on her wedding day, we'll be thinking back to this day and wonder where all the time went."

Elizabeth thought for a moment, about how quickly the first year flew by. "I suppose your probably right." She carried Lilly into the kitchen and put her in her highchair and belted her in, handing her two wooden spoons to play with while she waiting for her breakfast.

Jack placed Joey into the other chair and tied his belt and handed him a nearby toy. "I'm going out to check on the horses and see what we're looking at outside, check the temperature."

Elizabeth nodded and began making coffee. Constantly walking to the door and looking out for Jack. Finally, she saw him, scooping a path from the barn to the back door again. The horses were out in their pen, running and kicking in the deep snow, the best they could with the depth of it. She noticed their blankets were no longer on them and thought that it must have warmed up.

The sun was shining, making it hard to look outside due to it reflecting off all the snow; it was as if she was looking directly into a light. When Jack finally came back inside, he stopped just inside to let his eyes adjust from the brightness of being outside.

"How is it out there?"

"Not bad at all other than the deep snow. It has warmed up quite a bit. Might even start melting the snow this afternoon."

"That's great. Are you still going to try to go into work?"

"Yes, I'll see if Sergeant can make his way through the snow. If it's too hard for him, I'll turn around and come back."

"Okay." Elizabeth said with concern in her voice.

Jack walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her so her nose was almost touching his. He looked at her lips and then her eyes, then he reached up and tucked a loose hair behind her ear. "I'll be fine, Elizabeth. I promise that I will not do anything stupid. I love you and the twins too much; I wouldn't do that to you."

Elizabeth let out the breath she didn't know she'd been holding and looked Jack in the eyes. "Okay."

"I will call you as soon as I get to the jail."

Elizabeth relaxed with that. "Thank you." She kissed him on the nose and returned to breakfast.

After the family finished eating, Elizabeth cleaned the kitchen while Jack got ready for work. He walked into the kitchen, buttoning his red serge. Elizabeth saw him and walked over, gently pushing his hands away, she finished buttoning it for him. She then proceeded to run her hands down his arms and chest, pressing out wrinkles that were not there, delaying his departure.

Jack, knowing what she was doing, took her hands in his and kissed each one. He pulled her in close met her lips with his, kissing her softly but making it last as long as he could until they both had to take a breath.

"I'll call you as soon as I get there."

Elizabeth nodded and watched him walk to the door. He pulled his warm wool coat off the hook and put it on, wrapped his scarf snug around his neck, strapped his brown hat on tight and put his gloves on. He looked at Elizabeth before walking out the door, "I love you. See you tonight," he said smiling.

"I love you too, Jack."

Jack walked out the door and to the barn. Elizabeth stood at the back door and watched, waiting for him to appear with Sergeant. A short while later, he reemerged leading the beautiful black horse. He placed his left foot in the stirrup and swung his right leg up and over and lowered himself into the saddle. Noticing Elizabeth watching him, he smiled and tipped his hat to her, as he's done many times and rode away.

Elizabeth moved to a different window and watched him ride away. Sergeant didn't move as freely and swiftly as he usually did, but he was making his way through the deep snow, fully trusting his rider. She watched until they rounded the corner and out of sight.