AN: Okay, folks this is a little longer than others. I hope there is enough context in this that everyone can enjoy it as a nice little Elizabeth/Nathan Scene. It is from a chapter of Worlds that got written write after the disastrous finale and I may have taken a jab at so called finale. This is true romance not what the show gave us.

Stepping out of Billy's room, Elizabeth felt the tears come, not just for Billy but because of her own old emotions of loss resurfacing. Like Billy, she had loss someone she loved, but she had been better equipped to understand and deal with that loss. She'd had people around her to help her through the struggles that followed. That kid had been struggling on his own, with no one there to comfort and help him grieve.

Coming upstairs, Gabriel found her in the hallway, crying.

"What's wrong?" Gabriel asked, as he reached out and pulled her into a comforting hug.

Taking comfort from Gabriel's strong arms around her, Elizabeth took a couple of calming breaths. Gabe deserved an answer as he now had guardianship for Billy.

"I just had a heart to heart with, Billy. I am so glad you took him in Gabriel. That boy needs someone to love him."

Gabriel patted Elizabeth's back as he held her. "This might sound silly, but somehow I knew the moment that boy bit me that he needed me. It wasn't just physical starvation he was experiencing, but emotional as well. However, he hadn't had love from another human being for so long he didn't know how to communicate that need."

"That doesn't sound silly, at all. I'm glad he found his way to Brookfield and to you."

"So am I, Elizabeth."

As Elizabeth pulled away, Gabriel let her go.

"Are you okay?" Gabriel asked her.

Elizabeth nodded. "Yes. No offense, but right now I just want to fall asleep in my husband's arms."

"That is perfectly understandable," Gabriel replied with a smile. "Good night, Elizabeth."

"Good night," Elizabeth told him, stepping away as Gabriel stepped into the room she had just left.

Elizabeth went to Ally's room. Stepping into the room, Elizabeth made her way to the bed. Leaning over, she placed a kiss on her daughter's forehead, still able to remember the closed off, frightened girl who was trying to act brave that first came to Hope Valley. Helping Ally to letting people other than her uncle into the world had showed Elizabeth that she was doing the same thing. Despite Jack's letter telling her that he wanted her to open her heart and find love again, Elizabeth had been doing just the opposite. She had been focusing on her son and teaching so that she wouldn't have to think about finding that kind of love again. She had told Clara that you couldn't live your life on what-ifs. Those words applied to her as well. She couldn't worry about what might happen to Nathan, like Ally, she simply had to love him and enjoy the time she did have with him even if that meant prayers and worries while he was gone.

Ally's eyes fluttered briefly but didn't open, and Elizabeth moved silently from the room. Walking down the hall, she reached the room she shared with Nathan. Her husband had changed into his pajamas and was hanging up his uniform. Closing the door behind her, which gained Nathan's attention, she crossed over to him. One look at her and Nathan put aside the serge and opened his arms to her.

"Have I ever thanked you for just being patient with me while my heart finished healing?" Elizabeth asked as Nathan's arms settled around her. The only thing between them was the baby that their love had created.

"Not in words, but your love has shown me," Nathan told her.

"Well, I'm saying it now," Elizabeth told him, looking up at him. "Thank-you Nathan Grant, for being patient, caring, and a friend to lean on until my heart was ready to love again. You never used flattering words or pretend dates to get my attention. You were simply there. Someone to talk to. Some one who made me feel safe. You and Ally both helped my heart to heal so that I could enjoy the love of having whole family once again."

"The helping to heal part goes both ways, Elizabeth," Nathan told her. "Losing Colleen affected me more than I know and it wasn't until I came to Hope Valley that my heart started to heal from that loss."

"I guess we were both just destined to find one another when the time was right," Elizabeth said.

"I found you and I don't plan on letting you go any time soon," Nathan told her. "I'm looking forward to raising our children together. All of our children, no matter how they came into our lives."

Nathan pressed his lips against hers and Elizabeth returned the gesture. It wasn't a hungry, wild kiss like those in romance novels but a tender, slow kiss between two people who were secure in their love for one another and knew there was no one that they had to convince of that love.