The sunlight crept across the room, slowly making its way along the floor, onto the bed, and to Jack's face. The brightness forced Jack to squeeze his eyes tightly shut and roll out of the beam that was reaching in through the window. After attempting to return to the dream he'd been enjoying but having no luck, he let out a sigh and rolled to the edge of the bed and sat up, slowly lowering his feet to the cold floor. The smell of bacon and toast filled the air and the aroma of freshly brewed coffee invaded his nose, calling him to get up.

He could hear Elizabeth's voice floating through the house from the kitchen; she was talking to the twins. Jack stood, feeling the effects from the day before as he stretched his muscles and straightened his joints. The aches resonated with each step as he slowly made his way to his family.

Joey saw him enter the kitchen first. "Dadda," he blurted out.

Elizabeth turned to see her husband's face, pinched in pain with each step. She walked to the cupboard, pulled out a bottle and handed it to Jack. "It's pain medicine. Looks like you could use some."

Jack smiled and nodded. "Yes, I think I could."

After breakfast and cleaning the kitchen, Elizabeth noticed Jack was putting on his uniform pants.

"What are you doing?" She questioned him.

"I'm um...getting dressed for work." He cocked his head as he answered her.

"What do you mean? You need to stay home and rest." Elizabeth pleaded, her voice escalating with each word.

"I can't, Elizabeth. I need to finish checking on everyone. I lost too much time yesterday."

Elizabeth placed her hands on her hips and her voice got even louder. "Yes, the reason you lost time yesterday is because you almost died." Then she added, "again!"

Jack approached her and placed his hands on her shoulders in hopes to calm her down. "No, I did not almost die." He kept his voice calm and even.

"Jack, when they found you, you couldn't even walk any further. You were still an hour from town."

He dropped his arms and took a step back into the bedroom and picked up his shirt. "Yes, I'm aware. But they came along and got us. We were fine." Jack's voice was beginning to grow slightly louder. He was growing tired her over-protectiveness when it came to his job.

"Do you know why they came along?"

Jack looked up at her, his eyes narrowed. "What?"

"Do you know why they came along?" She repeated, slightly louder.

Jack stood staring at her, confused by the question.

"I called Faith." Elizabeth finally explained when Jack did not respond. "I called Faith and told her that I hadn't heard from you. That you'd gone out to check the homes. I asked her to get a team of men together to go out and search for you."

"You did?" Jack hadn't even thought to question the presence of the men yesterday. He'd been so lethargic and barely responsive to them when they found him, all he could think about was sleep. He stepped toward her but she took a step back and he stopped.

"Yes, I did. I was worried to death, Jack. I paced the floor, I couldn't eat, I wouldn't leave the phone. I was so scared and all I could think about was having to raise Joey and Lilly without their father." Tears filled her eyes and begin their decent down her cheeks.

She raised her hands to wipe her face but Jack grabbed them. He slowly lowered them, reached up with his own hands, and wiped her tears away with his thumbs.

"I am so sorry, Elizabeth. I am so sorry." He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her tight against his chest.

Elizabeth did not resist. She leaned into his embrace and let the tears flow. She'd held most of them in yesterday, for the twins' sake, but she couldn't any longer. With her hands covering her face, she pressed into his chest, her body shaking. Jack held her tight, softly stroking her hair and her back with his hand. Once he could feel that her crying had slowed, he cupped the sides of her face in his hands and tipped her head back so he could see her face. He lightly pressed his forehead against hers and closed his eyes.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I love you." He gently kissed her lips and she returned the affection. "I'll stay home today."

Elizabeth wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him again. "Thank you."

As Jack continued to hold her in the doorway of their room, something moving on the far side of the sitting room caught his attention. He straightened and when he realized what it was, he spun Elizabeth around so she could see.

"What are you..." Elizabeth stopped, gasped and squealed. "He's walking!"

Joseph was on his way toward them, fully upright; but only making it halfway across the room, he fell back onto his bottom.

Jack and Elizabeth both ran to him, spoke to him with high-pitched excited voices and helped him back to his feet, encouraging him to walk further. Wide-eyed and smiling ear to ear, Joey took four more steps toward his parents before falling back again.

Lilly heard all the commotion and joined them. Her walking, over the past week, had improved tremendously and she walked to them effortlessly from her perch next to the bookshelf. Jack and Elizabeth spent the next hour watching their babies walking all around the house; laughing, celebrating, smiling, temporarily forgetting about the previous day.

Jack had called Henry to let him know that he wouldn't be in town today and to check and see how things were. Due to the snow, most everyone was keeping to their homes so the town was basically shut down anyway. Jack had known that from being there the day before, but he felt uneasy about not being able to finish his rounds of checking on the outlaying homes and their families.

As Elizabeth was washing the dishes from lunch, Jack put the twins down for a nap. Both went to sleep without protest after tiring themselves out from playing hard all morning.

Jack quietly walked into the kitchen. Elizabeth hadn't seen him enter and continued scrubbing the pot that she had in the sink. Jack leaned against the doorframe and watched his wife. Guilt filled his heart as he thought about everything she had been through because of him. He knew how he felt when he thought he was going to lose her; so he could just imagine how she feels every time she is feeling that she has lost him. His heart ached for her and his eyes began to tear up.

Elizabeth turned and saw Jack, just as a single tear rolled down his cheek. Her smiled turned to immediate concern.

"What is it, Jack?" She hurried to him and took his hands in hers. "What's wrong?"

Jack shook his head, a few more tears rolled down. "I'm so sorry." His voice cracked as he spoke.

"About what? Jack, you're scaring me."

"That's what. I'm always scaring you. I'm so sorry for everything that I have put you through."

Jack quickly wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her in hard; startling her with the swiftness of his movements. She wrapped her arms around his waist and held him tight. The pair stood for several minutes, holding each other so tightly that they could feel each other's rapid heartbeats.

When Jack finally loosened his hold on her, Elizabeth took a small step back so she could see his eyes; red and swollen, the tears seemed to have finally subsided, but Jack wouldn't look her in the eyes.

"I'm sorry Elizabeth. I don't want you to think that I would ever choose my job over you; I am not doing that. I would never do that."

"I know, Jack."

"My job requires a certain... commitment from me. I feel like I dragged you into this life, knowing you didn't really want it."

"What? I didn't want this life? What do you mean: a life with you, a family with you, a home with you?"

"A life with someone that's constantly hurting you, worrying you."

"Jack, please stop. I knew what your job entailed before I ever married you. I love that you're so dedicated to your job and how much you care for everyone." She placed her hand on his cheek, wiping a tear away with her thumb. "I love that you take care of this town like you do. I love how much you love your children. I love how you take care of me and the twins. I love you, Jack and everything about you."

Jack let out a sigh and finally looked her in the eyes. "But I don't want to keep hurting you."

"Jack, you could get thrown from your horse just riding into town and get horribly injured. A gang could ride into town and shoot you if you worked at the mercantile. A log could fall and pin you, kill you, if you worked at the mill. It doesn't matter where you work or what you do, you can get hurt or killed and I will always worry about you. We've already proven that even being a school teacher can be dangerous. Remember that day in the mine."

Jack let out a small chuckle. "How could I ever forget." He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her, deep and passionately. Her body relaxed under his touch; he felt all the tension leave her. "That was the first time I told you I loved you."

"Yes, it was. I was so scared to never have you back then. I didn't think there was any way to fix us. But then you said those sweet words, Jack, and I knew...I knew we'd be together."

Jack bent down and kissed her again, this time, picking her up and carrying her to the bedroom.

…..

Life slowly returned to normal as the air warmed and the snow melted. Jack and Elizabeth had grown even closer though neither thought it was even possible. Christmas break was over and Elizabeth was back at school.

Bill was slowly healing. Growing restless, he returned to the jail to help with paperwork and anything he could do without getting scolded by Dr. Shepherd.

Two days after Bill's accident, Jack had finally been able to make it around to all the families outside of town. To his relief, everyone had remained warm and safe. The town gradually returned to business as usual, the snow had all but disappeared; leaving a soaked, muddy mess in its wake, and Jack did everything he could to make up for giving Elizabeth a scare again. He had brought her food from Abigail's several times, a bouquet of roses one evening, and had even drawn a hot bath and spent a romantic evening pampering her after the twins were asleep.

It was Valentine's Day and Jack was at work. As he sat on the edge of the old, wooden chair, his arms were resting on the desk. His eyes were closed and his head was resting in his hands. Bill walked in but Jack was so lost in thought, that he hadn't heard him.

"You alright?" Bill asked in his booming voice.

Jack jumped out of his chair at the sound of Bill's voice, knocking it over behind him. "Gosh, Bill." He placed his hand over his heart. "You scared me half to death." He walked around to the front of the desk and leaned against it.

Bill chuckled, "Not a good day for a Mountie when someone can just walk in the front door and you don't hear him."

"Sorry, Bill. I was...well...thinking about something."

"Something I can help you with?" Bill walked around the desk, picked up the chair and sat in it.

Jack shook his head, stood and walked over to the extra chair along the wall, pulled it to the front of the desk and sat down.

"No, Bill. I have to work this one out on my own."

"Everything alright?" Bill tipped the chair back and rested his feet on top of the desk.

"Yes. I'm just trying to...um..." A small, throaty laugh escaped him. "I'm trying to figure out what to do for Elizabeth for Valentine's Day."

"What? That's today. You don't have something figured out yet?" Bill dropped his feet to the floor and leaned forward, placing his arms on the desk.

"I know, I know. I've been trying to figure something out all week. Problem is, I've been doing things for her ever since your accident. She was so scared that she was going to lose me again, it just about broke her. I have felt guilty since then and have been doing little things to show her how much I love her. Now I have to come up with something bigger and I have been at a loss."

"Hmm, I see." Bill raised his hands, palm to palm, elbows still on the desk, and tapped his fingers together. "A bouquet of flowers."

"I did that two weeks ago." Jack leaned forward and rested his arms on the desk opposite of Bill.

"Okay. What about..." Bill paused, thinking hard. "What about making her a special dinner?

"I've done that a few times over the past weeks. That and bringing supper home from Abigail's so she wouldn't have to cook."

"Hmm, okay. Let me think." Bill rubbed his temples and thought for a while. "Sorry, Jack. I can't think of anything."

"That's alright, Bill. I need to figure this out myself. It has to be from me."

Bill nodded and stood. "I guess I should be going and let you get back to your...work."

Jack stood and followed him to the door. "Hey, did you stop by for a reason?"

Bill stepped through the door then turned toward Jack, "Oh, yes. We are having a bachelor party for Jesse next Saturday night and you're invited."

"Sounds like fun. I'll be there." Jack closed the door after Bill walked away and returned to his chair behind the desk.

He leaned back in the chair, propped his feet on the desk, and put his hands behind his head. With his eyes closed, he began to think about Elizabeth and all their time together over the years. After several moments, Jack jumped up, snapped his fingers and blurted out, "I got it!"

…..

After the kids were released from school, Elizabeth hitched Rosie to her buggy, loaded her basket and books from the day into the back and climbed up to the seat. She steered Rosie toward the town and stopped her in front of Abigail's.

"Well, hello, Elizabeth." Abigail called out from the kitchen where she was plating a meal for a customer. The café was half full already of couples trying to get their special meals in before having to go home to their children. "What brings you in?"

"Wow, you're busy early today." Elizabeth joined her in the kitchen.

"Yes, husbands bringing their wives out for a holiday meal. Will Jack be joining you soon?"

"No, I'm not here to eat. I actually haven't seen Jack since this morning; I don't even know he's gone home yet or not. I'm going to stop by the jail on my way home and see if he's there."

"What brings you in then?" Abigail plated two steaks then scooped two servings of mashed potatoes next to them. "I have to run these out, I'll be right back."

When Abigail returned, Elizabeth was sitting on a stool next to the preparation table. "I was wondering if you had a cake or a cobbler I could buy? Between school, grading papers and the twins, I haven't had any free time to make anything for this evening."

Abigail flashed a strange look toward Elizabeth, one eye squinted and the side of her mouth curled up; as if she had stopped mid-wink. But she quickly changed her expression to a smile and answered. "I have a wild berry cobbler."

Elizabeth hadn't noticed the change in Abigail's glance. "That sounds perfect."

"I'll get it ready for you." Abigail began to wrap the cobbler and place it in a basket. "How are the twins?"

"They are great. Both are walking all over the house. They keep Laura on her toes."

"It is so great that Laura has been able to be their nanny."

"Yes, we love her and so do the twins. She has been a godsend."

They visited for a few more minutes, then Elizabeth paid Abigail for the cobbler and left. She walked across the street to the jail to check for Jack to find it dark and empty. The air had lost the deadly chill it once held, leaving instead a briskness that was easily tolerated for the trip home.

When she pulled her horse to a stop behind the house, Jack was standing there waiting for her.

"Hello, husband. What are you doing just standing out here?"

He put up his hand to help her down. "Waiting for you, my love." Once she was standing in front of him, he kissed her on the nose. "Please wait here while I put Rosie away."

"Alright." Elizabeth rested her arm on the wheel of the buggy as she watched Jack unhitch and lead Rosie to the pen.

When Jack returned to her, he removed her items from the buggy and carried them to the house. Just before entering the back door, he turned to Elizabeth. "Um, could you please wait right here, for just a moment?"

Elizabeth gave him a sidewards glance and answered, "Sure."

When Jack reopened the back door, he held out his hand to her. "Take a walk with me, Elizabeth."

Elizabeth placed her hand his and let he led her into the house. She gasped at the sight when she entered. The entire house had a warm, flickering glow from the hundreds of candles that filled every room. "Oh, Jack. Just like the night you proposed and our anniversary."

"Yes. I had a very hard time trying to come up with what to do for you tonight. I thought about it for days. And then came up with this; I want to give you my favorite memories of us."

Elizabeth's eyes began to pool with tears. "Oh, Jack."

"One of my favorite memories of us, is the day that I asked you to marry me and you said yes."

"Mine too."

"Please, come with me."

Jack led her to the dining room where he had a meal already set, with more candles and a beautiful bouquet of flowers. He pulled the chair back and waited for her to sit, sliding the chair under her.

When Elizabeth noticed what the meal was, she looked at Jack smiling. "Our date at Abigail's?"

"Yes, I had Abigail make all the same food again."

"Where are the twins?"

"At Abigail's."

"What? I was just there. I didn't see them."

"Laura was staying with them upstairs for a while just in case you stopped by there after school."

"Wow, you've thought of everything."

"I hope so," He answered, smiling. He picked up her hand and kissed it.

When they were finished with their meal, Jack stood and pulled her chair out once more. Taking her hand, he let her to the sitting room where a music box was sitting on the table. She recognized it from their first dance on this land after Jack's return from the Northern Territories. Jack opened it and held his hand out to her again. She stepped into his arms and they danced, just like they had that evening.

When the song ended, Jack stepped back and picked up a package. Before handing it to her, he explained, "The first time I kissed you, I gave you something."

"Yes, the drawing you had done of the two of us." She pointed to the one hanging on the wall next to the front door.

He handed her the package and waited for her to open it. She took in a deep breath when she saw it and a tear ran down her cheek. She was holding a framed drawing, similar to the original one. But this one was her, Jack with the twins.

"This is beautiful, Jack. When did you do this?"

"I've been working on it for a while. Finished it last week so I could give it to you today. So, I did have this planned, but it just wasn't enough. I needed something more."

"No, you didn't, Jack. Really. I would have been elated with just this."

"No, Elizabeth. I needed to do more." He walked over to a box that sat on the book shelf. He opened it and removed a small pack that had been hidden inside. "I have been holding onto this for some time now. I kept it for myself. I had even taken it back to the Northern Territories with me."

He slowly unfolded the yellowed handkerchief that held a secret inside. When he opened the last flap of the fabric, Elizabeth could see the ornament she had hung on the Christmas wishing tree when Jack had been gone.

"Oh, Jack. You kept that?"

He held it up by the worn ribbon and handed it to her. She turned it in her hand and inspected it. The writing had faded a bit, but she could still make out what she'd written. I wish Jack could be here with me.

"Yes. I wanted it with me. I took it out and looked at it almost every day. A reminder of what waited back home for me. I loved that Christmas; being able to spend it with my fiancé amidst a horrible war."

Elizabeth reached up and kissed him on the cheek. "I can't believe you kept it. This has been a perfect night, Jack."

"It's not finished." He took the ornament from Elizabeth and laid it on the table. "There is one more thing I planned; another one of my favorite moments with you."

Jack put his hands on her shoulders and turned her face their bedroom. Elizabeth hadn't noticed it earlier, but there was a trail of rose pedals, leading a path into their room, just like their wedding night. Jack lifted her up into his arms, kissed her softly on the lips, then carried her through the doorway. "This is my favorite memory of all," he whispered to her.

He lowered her feet to the floor and turned her to face him. Then touched his forehead to hers, and took in a deep breath, breathing in the delicate fragrance of her perfume. Jack raised his hands to her cheeks and brushed his knuckles along her jawline and down her neck.

He moved to her shirt, pulled it from her skirt and began to unbutton it. Pushing it off her shoulders, he let it drop to the floor. Elizabeth followed his lead and began to unbutton his shirt; letting it drop as well. They took their time, giving each other extra attention and kisses as they undressed.

Jack looked down at her, taking in the magnificent sight before him. Her soft alabaster skin was almost glowing in the light of the candles. He ran his hand down her arm, looking at her from head to toe. "You are so beautiful." He took her face in his hands and kissed her deep.