Chapter 62

The last three days before school ended were fun and entertaining. The students loved having Julie in the classroom. Sure, she was a little less structured but she got the point across. It was hard for everyone to contain their excitement with Christmas just over a week away. The children would be preforming for their parents after a quick potluck at the schoolhouse on the last day of school. The choir would also sing. They would also be singing after Christmas eve mass. Elizabeth was enjoying watching her students during dress rehearsal from the back bench. She wanted to make sure even those at the back could see and hear the Nativity scene reenactment her students were so proud of.

The students were amazing and the parents clapped loudly as they took their bow. The students then surrounded Elizabeth and presented her with a gift that they all worked so hard to create. They made them a plaque that said, The Grants, and a smaller one for her desk that said Mrs. Grant. The detail work on both made her wonder if some of the parents or townspeople helped. As the evening went on the students and parents drifted out carrying the gifts the students had made for their parents. They all wished her a Merry Christmas or said see you soon. After Julie helped Elizabeth and Allie clean-up, they all went home. They decided to meet Julie in the morning and they would go tree hunting.

Nathan borrowed a wagon from the sawmill to haul the trees home while Elizabeth got the children ready. He stopped and picked up Julie before heading home to get Elizabeth and the children. Julie was just as excited as the children. This was the first time she had ever picked out a tree before. In Hamilton her mother had three delivered and then two were decorated by a designer and the other one hidden in the playroom was decorated as a family but that one was never seen by anyone outside the family. Nathan laughed as they rode off towards the house to get Elizabeth. He hadn't realized just how different their childhoods had been. Even though his father had made mistakes when he was a teenager, he did remember the happy times and the traditions they had created around Christmas. Picking out a tree and decorating it as a family was so important to his mother and father. They didn't care if the tree wasn't perfect, all they had cared about was being together and making memories. That was something he wanted for his family.

Nathan and Elizabeth chose to look for the trees in the same place they had found their trees the previous two years and as they drew closer to the forest Elizabeth asked, "Nathan do you ever regret turning down the promotion?" She wanted to know because she knew that he stayed because it had started to feel like home for both him and Allie but she wondered if he ever regretted it like Jack regretted not getting to work in Cape Fullerton. Nathan looked at Elizabeth and answered, "No, I do wonder sometimes what it would be like to be an inspector but I don't regret staying in Hope Valley. I know that I said I stayed for Allie but I also stayed for you. The thought of leaving you knowing that I was already falling in love with you made the idea of leaving unbearable. I was going to though until you slammed into the office with tears in your eyes demanding to know why I hadn't told you. That's when I realized that you might feel the same." He kissed her before pulling the reins to stop the horse. They got down from the wagon and started discussing what type of trees they wanted and how big. As usual the children wanted the biggest one they could find. Julie wanted a smaller one because she knew most of the celebrating would be done at Nathan and Elizabeth's house.

Nathan and Elizabeth watched as Allie, little Jack, and Julie ran into the forest looking for perfection. They followed behind with the saw enjoying the memories of years past and the new memories they were making as a family. Julie found her tree first and Nathan cut it down and carried it to the wagon while the others resumed the search. About twenty minutes later little Jack and Allie had agreed that they had found the perfect tree. It was taller than Nathan and the branches spanned at least four feet across. He knew that he would probably have to drag the tree out after he cut it. As he started to drag, Allie and Julie picked up the tree and helped him carry it. Elizabeth would have helped but she held little Jack's hand so no one could say she wasn't taking it easy. Once the tree was loaded, they headed for home singing carols along the way.

Looking for the trees was so much fun but tiring for Elizabeth. Nathan decided that they should stop at the café for a late lunch before going to the houses to decorate the trees. He knew that way Elizabeth would be forced to rest before the real work began. They decided that they would decorate Julie's tree first because it was smaller and closer to town. The five of them unloaded the tree and helped Julie pick the perfect spot for her beautiful tree. Julie was thankful that she had brought some of her favorite ornaments with her from Hamilton and she had ducked out of the café to the mercantile to pick up a few extras while everyone was visiting with Bill at lunch. Julie was like one of the kids decorating the tree. Her enthusiasm was infectious and Nathan was laughing watching her deliberate on where to place each ornament while the rest of the family placed them wherever they thought would good. After the lights and garland were positioned perfectly according to Julie's artist eye, they packed up and continued to the house to decorate the very first Christmas tree in their new home.

While Nathan and Julie struggled with the tree Elizabeth and Allie cleared a path for them. Earlier that day they had decided where to put it but with it being so large, they needed to move more furniture to get it into the house. Once it was upright Julie was out of breath. Julie was enjoying herself more than she thought possible. She was used to the high life in Hamilton but the simple things in Hope Valley were giving her more pleasure than ever thought imaginable. She could see why Elizabeth loved this place so much. Nathan struggled to get the lights on the tree before letting the children start decorating. Everyone picked ornaments to place on the tree. Elizabeth picked up a red bird ornament and stared at it for a moment remembering what happened two Christmases ago. Who would have thought that a simple ornament could cause so much emotion? That night was the first time she really knew that there was something more than friendship brewing between her and Nathan. At that moment, the urge to kiss him was so great but she hadn't because it was too new but it had been the nudge, she needed to start looking for something more. Nathan looked over and saw her looking at the bird ornament before she reached up and struggled once more to put it at the top of the tree. He came up behind her and reached for the ornament putting it at the top of the tree. She turned and reached up to guide his lips to hers. After a lot of laughter and chaos the tree was decorated and they all were proud of their first tree as a family.

Supper preparation was a family affair that turned into a flour fight in which everyone was coated with flour. The kitchen was a mess but the love was very evident. Nathan cleaned up the mess as Allie set the table and Elizabeth and Julie put the food on the table. They had done their best to knock off most of the flour onto the floor of the kitchen before they had moved to the table but everyone was going to have to bathe that night. The food was hearty and delicious. The laughter from the table was delightful and Julie wanted this kind of life for herself. She wasn't sure if she would find that in Hamilton. After supper Julie helped Elizabeth bathe the children before asking Nathan to take her back to the row house so she could bathe and get ready for bed. He agreed and they set off for town. He would return the wagon on the way home after dropping off Julie.

When Nathan returned the children were asleep and Elizabeth was dressed for bed. She was wrapping a few of the presents for the children. She wrapped the ones for Nathan as soon as the children were asleep because she hadn't known how long he would be. The wrapped gifts were now nestled under the tree. Julie had smuggled the gifts from Hamilton into the house the other day and they were also now under the tree. Elizabeth could see that Nathan still had flour in his hair so she told him to bathe and to meet her back downstairs because she wanted his help. Nathan did want to get the flour off of him so he complied and returned to Elizabeth a few minutes later. She asked Nathan, "have we decided which of these gifts are for little Jack's birthday and which is his Christmas gift? Having your birthday so close to Christmas means you usually get more for one than the other but I want him to be happy with both." Nathan nodded and pointed to the bigger gift. He said that this way he gets a big gift for birthday and several smaller ones for Christmas. Allie usually got one big gift for her birthday as well but her birthday was in the spring. Actually, it was a week before the wedding so they would have it make it special.

After all the gifts were wrapped Elizabeth and Nathan went upstairs to bed. The day had been perfect and the memories they were making for themselves and their children would last a lifetime. Elizabeth had saw the wistful look in Julie's eyes and she prayed that her sister would be blessed to find her great love like she did. Julie deserved to be happy and to have a family one day. Elizabeth wondered if Julie was happier here than she was in Hamilton. Elizabeth planned to find out. She kissed her husband good night before snuggling into his arms and falling asleep. There was no place she would rather be than in Nathan's loving arms.