I know many of you are patiently waiting for wedding chapters. I am working on them next and want to make sure I get them right so please be patient if I don't publish new chapters as quickly as I usually do. I will do my best to get them finished sooner rather than later.

Sarah picked up dinner at the café for Rosemary and Lee and drove over to pick up Nathan so they could deliver the baby cradle. Rosemary was thrilled with it and impressed with the work Lee and Nathan had done. Rosemary put her hand on Lee's cheek and kissed him gently thanking him for the beautiful bed for the baby. Sarah busied herself setting out dinner for the two of them. Lee helped Rosemary, who was moving very slowly in these last days, to the table and Nathan and Sarah said their goodbyes.

They returned to Nathan's house for a quick dinner before he had to go meet Steven. After Nathan left, Sarah and Allie set up the backgammon board which had become a favorite game for them to play together. As had been happening more often, their discussion turned to wedding plans. Sarah told Allie she and her dad had finalized the guest list and they were keeping it small. Allie asked if she could invite some of her friends and hoped that Opal, Emily, Robert and Paul could come. Sarah promised to include them on the list. "We want this day to be special for you too Allie and if you want your friends there then we should certainly invite them." Allie was relieved that she wouldn't be the only young person at the wedding. They turned the conversation to what kind of flowers they thought they should carry in their bouquets. Allie wanted to carry wildflowers. Sarah liked that idea and thought they could get some ribbon at the dress shop and wrap it around the stems to match their dresses. Allie asked Sarah what her dress was going to look like. "You are going to have to wait until the wedding to find that out. I want to keep it a surprise."

Nathan and Steven rode their horses out to the factory and found a secluded area where they could lay low and keep an eye on the front of the building. Both had foregone their uniforms for everyday clothes knowing that red serge, even at night, was easily recognized. At the top of every hour they took a ride around the area keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. Shortly after midnight Steven saw a couple of characters working their way toward the building. Making sure the horses were tethered Nathan and Steven stealthily made their way to the building keeping a safe distance from the faceless figures. Nathan signaled to Steven that he was going to loop around to the other side of the pair so they had them covered on either side. Once they were in position they waited and watched. The sound of splintering wood broke through the stillness of the night. At the first sound Nathan and Steven moved in shouting to both figures to stop where they were and put down the weapon. When they heard the command, the figure who had been swinging took off running through the field west of the building while the other one acted like a trapped animal wanting to run but unable to move. Nathan communicated to Steven that he was going after the runner while Steven handcuffed the remaining suspect who looked like a kid barely out of school. Nathan had always been a fast runner but running through a field in the dark with just the moon for light he could only follow by listening to the pounding footsteps and heavy breathing ahead of him. After a few minutes he came to the road where he was much surer footed and was able to catch up and took a leap at the man both of them landing in a jumble of arms and legs on the hard ground. The suspect jumped up swinging his arms in an attempt to keep Nathan away from him. He took direct aim at Nathan's midsection followed quickly by a blow to his face catching the side of his cheek. Physically the suspect was larger than Nathan but he was stronger and able to throw him off balance. When he fell to the ground Nathan finally he got his arms pinned back and placed the handcuffs on him. Nathan got a look at his face in the moonlight and realized he wasn't a man at all. Nathan would be surprised if he was much more than eighteen. Nathan directed him back to the building to assess the damage. After gathering the axe as evidence, he and Steven got the horses and tied the two suspects together and walked them back to the Mountie office where they were put in separate cells. It was late and Nathan wasn't sure they were going to get much out of them that night so he told Steven he would be back the following day to interview them. They weren't going anywhere until Monday anyway.

On his way home from the livery Nathan walked by the Coulter house and saw his car out front and all the lights on in the house. Given it was almost two in the morning he knew something wasn't right. Nathan knocked on the door and it was opened by Lee who was white as a sheet and looking very anxious.

"Lee what's going on?" That's when Nathan heard the noise upstairs.

"Rosie's having the baby. Faith and Sarah are upstairs with her. It started not long after dinner and has been going on all night but I have no idea how much longer it's going to be." Lee had been pacing the floor cringing every time the sound of Rosemary's pain made it downstairs. He felt helpless to do anything about it.

Nathan stepped in and told his friend to sit down and he would make them some coffee. While he was preparing it he heard the sound of footsteps and saw Sarah coming downstairs. "Oh Nathan, I'm so glad you're here. Will you stay with Lee? I hated to leave him down here alone but Rosemary needs me upstairs."

"Of course I will, I was prepared to stay up all night anyway. Do you want me to make you ladies some tea?"

"That would be wonderful, we could use it. Thank you." With a quick kiss she went back upstairs to tend to her friend.

Nathan brought Lee some coffee and tried to keep him occupied with small talk. When the kettle was ready he made the tea and carried it upstairs. Knocking softly Sarah opened the door and took the tray. "How is it going?" Nathan stood in the hallway not wanting to cross the threshold into the room. Having been there when Colleen had Allie, Nathan remembered how unpredictable giving birth could be.

"Faith thinks it shouldn't be much longer. Rosemary's doing so well. I hope I can be as strong as she is when my day comes."

"You will be. I know it." Nathan smiled and closed the door and went back downstairs to Lee.

Lee told Nathan that after dinner Rosemary started feeling pains. When he saw Nathan's car in front of his house he ran and asked Sarah to pick up Faith and bring her back to the house. Once they got back they took Rosie upstairs and got her settled. "Sarah's been up and down the stairs a dozen times checking on me but I told her Rosie needed her more than I did."

Nathan told Lee that Faith didn't think it would be too much longer hoping that would reduce his anxiety a bit. Nathan refilled their coffee and just as he sat down they heard the loudest and longest moan from Rosemary that they'd heard all night. It was followed a few moments later by the tiniest of cries coming from upstairs. Lee's face broke into a huge smile and he breathed a deep sigh of relief.

Several minutes later Sarah came downstairs to tell Lee that they had a beautiful, healthy baby girl and that Rosemary was doing wonderfully. "Oh my goodness Lee, Rosemary was amazing and the baby is absolutely perfect." Sarah gushed.

Faith called down to Sarah to hurry back upstairs, the alarm evident in her voice. "Sarah, come up quickly please." Sarah rushed up to the room while Lee started pacing the floor again imagining the worst. Nathan had him sit with him and said a quick prayer for the health of Rosemary and the baby. As soon as he finished praying they again heard tiny cries coming from upstairs.

Within a few minutes Sarah came downstairs again. "Lee, you have a handsome baby boy."

Lee looked at her totally confused. "You just said I had a daughter."

"Yes, you have a daughter and a son, two babies!" Lee sat down and cradled his head in his hands not sure if he should laugh or cry at their good fortune. "Faith said to give her a little bit of time to finish up and she'll let you know when you can come upstairs." Lee looked at Nathan and thanked him for staying with him and his prayer. Lee was in complete shock never expecting that there might be two babies.

Sarah took a rag and basin of warm water upstairs with her and returned to the room to help Faith and Rosemary who was sitting up in bed cradling a baby in each arm. "I can't believe we have two. We prayed so long just to have one and God doubly blessed us for our patience." Sarah didn't think she'd ever seen a prettier picture than Rosemary with her babies in her arms. Carefully she took baby girl and laid her on the bed and with the warm water washed her quickly so she wouldn't get cold. Sarah marveled over every tiny detail of the precious baby.

"She is absolutely perfect Rosemary." Sarah diapered her, wrapped her tightly in a blanket and placed her back in Rosemary's arms. She did the same with baby boy and by the time she had placed him in Rosemary's arms, Faith was finished and told Sarah to call Lee upstairs. She and Faith quietly left the room when Lee entered giving the Coulter family time alone together.

Downstairs Faith, Sarah and Nathan sat around the kitchen table each still amazed by what they'd just experienced. Faith admitted it was the first time she'd delivered twins and was thankful it all went so well. Sarah told Faith she was impressed by her calm demeanor throughout the night and knew it helped Rosemary to stay as peaceful as she did throughout the delivery. Faith said she would stay at Rosemary and Lee's for the night should they need anything.

Nathan and Sarah got up to leave and as Nathan slid the chair back Sarah noticed that he winced in pain.

"Nathan, what's wrong?" Sarah realized that with all the excitement of Rosemary's delivery she'd forgotten that he and Steven had been out on a stakeout earlier.

"It's nothing, I just took a couple of punches and I'm not as young as I used to be." Nathan tried to brush it off.

Sarah looked to Faith. "Faith, would you please take a look at Nathan and make sure he's okay?"

Nathan fought the idea but Faith finally convinced him to lie on the couch so she could examine him. After she poked and prodded a bit she determined that no ribs were broken but he would definitely be bruised and sore for a while.

Sarah drove Nathan back to his house and helped him up the stairs which he argued wasn't necessary. "I know it's not necessary but I want to take care of you."

They stopped at the top of the stairs not wanting to step inside for fear of waking Allie or Archie. Sarah put her hand softly on Nathan's cheek. "I want to hug you but I know it would hurt you. I'm sorry I forgot about what you and Steven were doing tonight. I was so focused on Rosemary. Did you catch someone?"

Nathan took her hand from his cheek and kissed her palm. "Darling, you had enough on your mind tonight. The last thing I want is for you to worry about me. Yes, we caught two boys, but it's late and we can talk about it later. The smile on his face and glimmer in his eyes made Sarah's heart feel like it was going to beat out of her chest. His gaze was focused on her lips and she closed her eyes as she felt the softness of his lips meeting hers with a most tender kiss. He pulled away taking a deep breath. "I would love to stand on the porch and continue this with you but we need to get some sleep if we're going to make it to church in a few hours." Sarah reluctantly agreed waiting for her heartbeat to return to normal.

Sarah drove herself home let herself in to her apartment and quickly got ready for bed. As the softness of her feather bed enveloped her she stopped to think about what she had witnessed that night. She said a prayer of thanksgiving for Rosemary, Lee and their beautiful babies and for Nathan and their future together and quickly fell into a deep, satisfying sleep.