I have a feeling this weeks season 8 finale is going to be stressful. So, I have written another happy chapter/story to relax you (or #TeamNathan anyway) after/before the finale this Sunday (I can't believe its already the season finale, it flew by so fast to me).

I have no idea who Elizabeth will choose, but regardless of the outcome I trust that the writers will do a great job with all of the characters, and give them lovely storylines next season.

I will also add another chapter or two to this collection regardless of who is endgame :)

Elizabeth finished putting away the last of the lunch dishes. She looked out the window and watched Allie and Jack play with a small ball in the backyard. Allie's homework was still on the living room table, and Jack's toys were scattered all over the floor in their usual fashion. Elizabeth tidied up a few things in the living room and then sat down at her writing desk to grade assignments. About an hour passed before she heard Allie and Jack walking up the steps at the back door. Elizabeth looked up from her work. The back door swung open, and Allie marched in, with little Jack at her tail.

"Allie, please take your shoes off," Elizabeth said plainly. Allie sighed, slumped her shoulders, and made her way to the front door, bent over and started to untie her shoes.

Elizabeth wrote and glanced up from her work a few times. The sound of Jack running towards her saying "mama" caused her to put her pencil down and pivot to the side of her chair.

"Hey, little man! Did you have fun with Allie?" Elizabeth said with a smile as she lifted Jack up and placed him on her lap. Jack smiled as he spun a little daisy between his fingers.

"Thank you for keeping an eye on Jack," Elizabeth said as she raised her head to look over at Allie, who just sat down beside her homework.

"No problem," Allie responded pleasantly.

Elizabeth took Jack upstairs to clean him up a bit before dinner. She walked through the door to Jack's room and placed Jack down beside her in front of the large, dark, wooden closet. She opened the doors and picked out a new outfit for Jack. Glancing over to the side, she noticed one of her dresses hanging in the back corner of the closet. She gently ran her fingers along the sheer layer of light blue fabric. She hadn't worn that dress in ages. Smiling, she decided to take it out and move it to the main closet in her and Nathan's bedroom. By the time she had walked back over to Jack's room, Jack had rummaged through the box of socks and tossed a few on the floor near the closet.

"You work fast," Elizabeth chuckled as she picked him up and kissed him on the cheek before getting him changed. After she cleaned the socks up, Elizabeth put Jack's dirty clothes in the laundry basket near the door.

The sound of the front door closing and voices coming from what she presumed was the living room drew Elizabeth's attention. She adjusted Jack on her hip and went down the stairs towards the commotion.

"Hi sweetheart!" Nathan greeted with a smile. "How would you like to go out to dinner tonight? Just the two of us?" He asked. Elizabeth thought for a moment, she looked over at Allie and then Jack.

"I know it's a bit last minute but... - Allie has agreed to babysit, and I ran into Rosemary in town, and she agreed to stay with them for a couple of hours as well," Nathan continued, knowing Elizabeth was worried about leaving the kids.

"In that case, yes, I would love to," Elizabeth answered, smiling up at her husband. She gave Nathan a kiss and put little Jack down near his toy box. "What time would you like to go?" She asked before going over to the kitchen.

"Whenever you would like," Nathan responded with a smile as he took off his serge and hung it by the door.

"How about in an hour or so?" Elizabeth suggested chipperly.

"Sounds good." He agreed.

Upstairs, Elizabeth opened her closet and reached for the blue dress she found earlier. Perfect; it was meant to be she thought, as she laid the dress out on the bed. She put the dress on and walked over to the full-length mirror. She gently ran her hands along the front of the dress and turned to look at the back. She smiled and spun around a couple of times. She clasped her hands together in front of her chest and let out a little squeal of excitement. As she looked in the mirror, she noticed Nathan's reflection behind her, leaning against the bedroom doorframe. She quickly turned around and smiled, slightly embarrassed.

"You are beautiful," Nathan said with a big smile. He straightened up and walked closer to his wife.

Elizabeth looked down as she blushed under his gaze. She swished her skirt back and forth a couple of times before looking up smiling, her shoulders slightly raised. She jumped up and threw her arms around Nathan's neck, hugging him tightly. Nathan laughed and wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting her off the ground and placing her back down. Elizabeth's hair was out, and a couple pieces had fallen forward. Nathan tucked the hair on one side behind her ear with his right hand and kissed her. Elizabeth smiled and went over to her dresser to get a hair clip.

"I haven't seen you wear this dress in a while," Nathan remarked, "It looks pretty - not that your other dresses don't..." he trailed off a little flustered, glanced down at the ground and then back at Elizabeth.

"Thank you, you look very handsome yourself," she said, "I found the dress while looking through little Jack's closet".

Nathan was wearing a grey three-piece suit, though he was only wearing the pants and the vest over top of a white shirt at present. Elizabeth put on a little perfume and grabbed her coat, slinging it over her left arm. She walked out after Nathan and they headed down the stairs.

"Oooo, you guys look like one of those couples on the covers of romance novels!" Allie gushed, "I like your dress mom," she said as she fingered the mesh layer of the skirt, much like Elizabeth had when she first saw it in the closet.

"Are you sure you will be okay taking care of Jack before Rosemary arrives?" Elizabeth asked

"Absolutely! We will be fine - right Jack?" Allie said confidently. She looked over at Jack. Jack lifted a block up into the air and smiled.

Nathan leaned down and playfully massaged Jack's head.

"Make sure he doesn't put anything in his mouth okay..." Nathan cautioned Allie as he and Elizabeth headed for the door, "and don't let him out of your sight before Rosemary gets here," He added.

"Yes, father," Allie answered with a raised eyebrow, dragging out the word "father" at the end.

With amused smiles, Nathan and Elizabeth walked down the steps in front of their row house. Elizabeth linked her arm in Nathan's and rested her head against his shoulder. The sun was just setting, creating a gorgeous sunset as they walked down the gravel road towards town. They ran into Rosemary on the way, which put both Elizabeth and Nathan's mind at ease knowing Allie wouldn't be alone with Jack long. Elizabeth took a deep breath and squeezed Nathan's arm a little tighter. Nathan looked down at his wife and smiled in contentment. At that moment, the couple felt like nothing weighed on them, they just felt the calmness of being next to each other and enjoying each other's company.

Nathan pulled a chair out from under a table in the corner of the cafe for Elizabeth. She sat down and smoothed her skirt over her lap. Nathan sat down across from his wife and reached his arm over the table towards Elizabeth with his palms facing up. Elizabeth gently placed her hand in his and looked into his eyes.

"I love you," he said in a soothing voice, still locked in each other's gaze.

"I love you," Elizabeth reciprocated with a big smile.

"You have no idea how grateful I am to have you as my wife," he continued.

Elizabeth turned his hand over, lifted it towards her lips and kissed it before clasping his hand in both of hers.

"I love you so much," Elizabeth whispered.

There weren't many people in the cafe, only two other lovely couples enjoying each other's company. Clara walked out and took Elizabeth and Nathan's order before disappearing back into the kitchen. Nathan reached into the pocket of his overcoat, which was hanging on one side of his chair, and pulled out a little box.

Placing it gently on the table in front of Elizabeth, he said, "I got something for you," he looked from the box up at Elizabeth and attentively watched her reaction.

"Nathan..." she started in surprise, "You didn't have to get me anything. I thought we were just going out for dinner - I didn't get you anything," she said, almost rambling.

Nathan laughed. "I have everything that I ever wanted or needed - just open it... if you would like," he said, as he watched as Elizabeth daintily opened the little box.

Elizabeth's smile widened as she pulled out a small golden locket and chain.

"Oh, it's beautiful!" she said looking up from the locket in her hands to her husband.

She opened the locket. Joy and gratefulness filled her heart when she saw the photo on the left. It was the photo Carson took of the two of them at Clara and Jesse's wedding.

"I know the other side is empty," Nathan started, "I thought maybe you could put a photo of the kids or something else in there if you would like," he continued.

Elizabeth looked up from the locket, "It's perfect," she said, offering her left hand to Nathan over the table.

After they finished dinner, Nathan assisted Elizabeth with her coat as they stepped out of the cafe. Elizabeth was wearing the locket and touched it with the tips of her fingers. Walking arm and arm down the gravel road, the moonlight guided their steps. The flowers seemed to glow under the moonlight along the edges of the road. Nathan let go of Elizabeth's arm and walked over to the edge of the road. Elizabeth watched in confusion. Bending down, Nathan picked a few forget-me-nots from the side of the road and gave Elizabeth the flowers before offering her his arm again. Elizabeth lifted the flowers to her nose, took a small breath in and let the scent infuse the air. She smiled as she reached across her body to rest her other hand on Nathan's arm. Now nearing their little row-house Elizabeth tried to look through the upstairs window that was illuminated by candlelight. Allie must still be awake, she thought.

"Do you think the house fell apart in our absence?" Elizabeth asked jokingly,

"Well... it's still standing. That's a good sign." Nathan played along. They both laughed.

Nathan opened the door to let Elizabeth and himself in. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, except for Rosemary's coat hanging by the door.

"I better go upstairs and check on the kids," Elizabeth said as Nathan helped take off her coat.

Nathan organized a few things in the living room as Elizabeth lifted her skirt and ran up the stairs on the tips of her toes. Rosemary had just closed the door to Jack's room who had fallen asleep.

"Elizabeth! How was your dinner?" she asked curiously with a big smile.

"It was wonderful," Elizabeth responded dreamily. "Thank you so much for taking care of the kids."

"Don't mention it! Allie helped a lot and little Jack was very well behaved." Rosemary responded happily.

Elizabeth and Rosemary caught up and said their goodnights in the hallway before Rosemary headed downstairs to say goodbye to Nathan. Elizabeth saw the candlelight from under Allie's door spilling out into the hallway. She walked over to her door and gently knocked before reaching for the doorknob.

"Hi mom!" Allie greeted with a smile as she put down the book she was reading.

"Why aren't you asleep yet?" Elizabeth asked as she sat down on the side of Allie's bed.

"I wanted to wait for you," Allie responded with a little shy smile. "How did it go?" she asked curiously.

"It was very nice," Elizabeth responded with a smile.

Allie noticed the locket hanging around her mother's neck. "Is that new?" She asked as she gently touched the locket with the tips of her fingers.

"Yes, your father gave it to me at dinner," Elizabeth said, blushing as she replayed the moment.

"That's so romantic!" Allie said dreamily as she took a deep breath.

Elizabeth laughed, "How was everything here?" she asked.

"It was good. I babysat Jack and aunt Rosemary heated leftovers for dinner and brought some new records for us to listen to after." She responded excitedly.

"Ooo that sounds fun - I'm glad little Jack wasn't too fussy," Elizabeth concluded as she smiled at her daughter.

Nathan walked over to Allie's room door after quietly checking on Jack. Elizabeth and Allie looked over at him as he approached.

"There are my beautiful girls!" He said with a proud smile. He sat down on the bed near Elizabeth and rested his chin on her shoulder.

Both Allie and Elizabeth smiled. After chatting a little bit, they kissed each other goodnight and Nathan and Elizabeth got ready for bed themselves. Allie relaxed in her bed and took a deep breath. She smiled and closed her eyes. Thank you, God, for giving me such a great family. I never imagined such happiness, she silently prayed in her head.

Elizabeth brushed her hair in front of her mirror. Nathan was already in bed, reading near the candlelight. Clutching her locket near her heart, Elizabeth closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Thank you, Lord, for giving me the most amazing husband and family, she prayed quietly. The house was silent. Jack and Allie were asleep. All she could hear were the sounds of Nathan flipping the pages of his Bible from time to time. Relaxing nights like these were her favourite.