Even with the late night before Sarah was up as soon as the sun started peeking through her curtains. She got dressed quickly and was out the door early as she needed to make a stop before she met Nathan, Allie and Archie at church.
Elizabeth opened the door not expecting to see Sarah. She invited her in but, after her last experience in Elizabeth's house, Sarah declined. She just wanted to share with her that Rosemary had delivered very early in the morning. "She asked me to let you know and she would love for you to stop over after church. Elizabeth had questions but Sarah told her she wanted Rosemary to share the good news with her friend.
"Thank you Sarah for letting me know. I'm so happy for them to finally have the baby they've wanted for so long."
Sarah turned to leave Elizabeth's just as Nathan, Allie and Archie were on their way to church. "Well this is a nice surprise. I expected to meet you at church."
"Rosemary asked me to let Elizabeth know she'd delivered and I wanted to do it before church." Nathan grabbed her hand and tucked it into his arm. Sarah looked at Nathan's handsome face that often occupied her dreams and saw the purplish bruise that had formed on his cheek. Her hand instinctively reached up to touch it causing Nathan to wince. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to hurt you. It looks much worse than it did last night?"
Smiling at her he said "Don't worry, it won't even be noticeable by the wedding." Sarah told him that was the least of her worries. She reached over and grabbed Allie's hand and they walked to church together.
After service they went to Nathan's house for a quick breakfast before he had to go to work and relieve Steven. Sarah was going back home to take a nap and catch up on some much needed sleep before addressing wedding invitations. Nathan walked her to her door and let her know how impressed he'd been with her the night before.
"I have to confess, I thought miracles only happened in the Bible but what I saw last night was truly a miracle." Sarah felt blessed to have been a witness to it.
Nathan took Sarah's hand and played with her engagement ring. "You were so calm it was as though you'd done it a dozen times before."
"I had the easy part. I just held Rosemary's hand and let her squeeze it as often and as hard as she needed to."
Nathan cradled Sarah's face in his hands, gently tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear. "You did exactly what Rosemary needed you to do." He kissed her goodbye and told her to have a good nap and get enough sleep for both of them.
Elizabeth stopped at the Coulter's on her way home from church. Faith was there and she let Elizabeth in. She settled Jack in the playpen that Lee and Rosemary had gotten when Jack was a baby and would now be used for their own. Elizabeth asked Faith how they were doing and she told Elizabeth that they were all tired but everyone was healthy. Tip toeing up the stairs Elizabeth knocked softly and waited for permission to come in. When she opened the door she first saw Lee sitting in a chair holding a tiny bundle in his arms. Then she saw a tired but beaming Rosemary also holding a tiny baby in her arms. "Oh my goodness she exclaimed, there are two of them!" Both Lee and Rosemary told her they were as surprised as she was. Lee stood up and handed the baby to Elizabeth.
"Elizabeth, let me introduce you to our son, Thomas Patrick Coulter." Elizabeth took the baby from Lee and looked at him sleeping peacefully in her arms. She told both Lee and Rosemary how happy she was for them. Rosemary introduced Elizabeth to their daughter, Frances Jane Coulter. Handing Thomas back to Lee, Elizabeth picked up Frances and held her to her chest talking quietly to her about how lucky she was to have such special parents. She remembered the tiny baby sounds that newborns made and relished every one of them. After several minutes Elizabeth returned the baby to Rosemary's arms. She told them she was going to let them get some sleep but she would bring them dinner later. She picked up Little Jack trying to remember when he'd been that tiny. Walking back to her house Elizabeth realized her happiness for Lee and Rosemary made her feel the best she had in a very long time.
Returning to the jail Nathan saw Steven looking a bit ragged.
"You're one to talk. You look worse than I do after sleeping on that board they call a cot." Steven hadn't noticed Nathan's face the night before. "What happened to your face?"
"I took a punch from one of our guests, I'm more tired from being up most of the night." He went on to tell him about Lee, Rosemary and the babies.
"Two babies? That sounds like a rough night."
"All I had to do was sit with Lee. Faith and Sarah stayed with Rosemary through it all."
Turning the attention to their "visitors" in the jail cells Nathan asked Steven if he'd been able to get any information from them.
"As a matter of fact I did and I think you'll find it rather interesting." Steven told Nathan the big surly one who'd taken a couple of swings at him was Gray Briggs. The other one was a friend of his, Peter Evans, who, from what he says, just happened to pick the wrong night to hang out with Gray.
"Gray as in Grayson Briggs?" Nathan was confused. "Why would he do that to his dad's factory?" The whole situation seemed strange to Nathan. He'd been thinking about it ever since he saw how young they both looked.
Steven said Gray hadn't said much but Peter was quite the talker when he was nervous and having spent the night in a jail cell, he was very nervous. "I'm sure there's a lot more to the story but Peter said Gray's mom recently passed and he blames his father for it. She got sick shortly after they moved here and died a couple of months ago. Gray took care of his mother and worked at Gowen Petroleum while his father spent all his time on the construction of the factory and getting it up and running. Peter said, from what he could tell, Gray and his father never had much of a relationship but it had gotten much worse since his mom died."
Nathan took Steven's report and told him to go home and get some sleep. He reviewed what Steven had written up and thought about the situation. He understood what it was like to lose someone close to you. He was also remembered what it was like to be angry and have no outlet for it. The fact that Gray was directing it at his father was even more familiar. Normally Nathan would let these two boys face their consequences with little regard to where they ended up but Gray's story struck a chord with him. There were similarities to his own life that he couldn't ignore and something kept telling him to do more than just escort these boys to court in the morning and let them face the judge. Sarah would tell him it was God putting the situation in front of him because he was supposed to help.
Nathan opened Gray's cell door and stepped inside taking a seat on the lone chair. He sat for a few minutes saying nothing deciding how he wanted to start the conversation and how much of his own life he wanted to share with the boy. "I understand you lost your mom not too long ago. I'm sorry about that." Nathan was looking in Gray's direction but he was staring at the ceiling from his bed. "It's hard to lose someone that important to you." Gray scoffed at Nathan as though he couldn't really understand how he felt. "I lost my sister many years ago. I still think of her every day." Nathan wasn't sure he was getting anywhere but he continued talking. "I also know what it's like to be angry at someone and blame them for what's gone wrong in your life."
Gray sat up on the edge of the bed and looked Nathan in the eyes. "What would you know about it?" Gray doubted that this Mountie could understand what he was going through.
Nathan proceeded to tell Gray something he shared with very few people. "When I was a teenager my father went to prison for theft." That caught Gray's attention. "He left my mother, my sister and me with nothing. It was rough and I was angry with him for a very long time, for twenty years. I thought I was justified in my anger, I still do to some degree. Part of me was afraid I would turn out like him which is one of the reasons I joined the Mounties. When my sister died I became guardian of her little girl and I knew I couldn't raise her with that much anger in me." Nathan was quiet letting Gray process what he'd said.
"Where's your dad now?" Gray was finally starting to talk.
Nathan chuckled. "He came back into our lives a few years ago. Now he lives with me and my daughter."
"Really? Aren't you still angry at him?"
"No, I actually forgave him a few months ago. The anger I had toward him wasn't healthy for me or my daughter. She really wanted a relationship with her grandfather and now she has one and so do I."
The door to the jail opened and Grayson Briggs, Sr. entered. "Inspector, is the Constable here today. My son didn't come home last night and I want to file a report."
"Constable Andrews was here all night so I relieved him this morning since the cells are full." Nathan asked Grayson to step outside with him before he could see his son in his cell. He explained that his son was inside and why he was being held.
When he told him what happened Grayson didn't believe him. "Why would he do that?"
"I think he needs to tell you himself but from what I gather he's reacting to the loss of his mother and right or wrong he's laying a lot of the blame for her death on you."
"I knew he was upset about his mother but I didn't realize he blamed me. That explains a lot of his behavior lately but I wouldn't have expected this."
Nathan encouraged Grayson to go talk to his son. Grayson nodded not sure where to start.
By the time Steven came to relieve him Nathan was ready to be home. Grayson Briggs was still there talking to his son. Nathan gave him a quick rundown of the day and told him he would be in early in the morning since they both had to take them to their initial hearing with the judge.
Nathan reached his house and could hear the laughter through the open windows. His spirits immediately lifted as he stepped into the house. It had been a particularly trying day for him, the situation between father and son and the memories it stirred up still weighed heavily on his mind. Nathan didn't like to bring the job home with him and he tried his best to put on a good front but Sarah could see it in his face. She let Allie and Archie say their hellos and waited for Nathan to come into the kitchen where she was preparing dinner. She began unbuttoning his serge to help him out of it knowing he was probably still feeling the effects of the night before.
He tried to stop her. "I can get this off. What are you making for dinner?"
"Nathan, let me help you. You've been hurt and I know you have to be exhausted after the last couple of days." Sarah finished undoing the buttons and reached up to give him a kiss as she removed the serge and went to hang it up. "I'm going to feed you and then I expect you to go to bed." Sarah told him they were having Allie's favorite pot pie for dinner and she had helped make it so Sarah reminded him to complement her. "Allie's getting better all the time and she can't wait to cook for her grandmother."
Nathan gave her one of his irresistible smiles and kissed the top of her head. "Thank you, I could get used to being taken care of like this."
Over dinner Sarah told Allie and Archie all about Rosemary and Lee's twins. Allie asked when she could see them and Sarah told her she could go along when she took them dinner on Wednesday. Allie was also excited that her grandmother would be there in less than two weeks. Nathan had scheduled her ticket so she would be in Hope Valley in time for Allie's end of school year ceremony.
Allie and Sarah cleaned up after dinner and then sat at the kitchen table working on the wedding invitations for Allie to give to her friends.
While they were busy Nathan and Archie sat together in the sitting room. Nathan told Archie about the arrest he'd made the night before and what had happened today. "Archie, it reminded me a lot of being at odds with you all those years. I just want to tell you that I'm glad we've come as far as we have in our relationship. I know it means a lot to Allie."
"Son, I can't tell you how much these months with you and Allie have meant to me. You didn't have to welcome me into your home but you did and for that I will be forever grateful." Archie's voice got husky with emotion.
It was then that Sarah and Allie saw something that they couldn't ever remember seeing. Archie and Nathan both stood up and hugged each other. Sarah grabbed Allie's hand and they snuck a peek at each other both smiling at the scene between father and son. Sarah didn't know what prompted the exchange but knew Nathan would share it with her when he was ready.
Quickly gathering himself Nathan announced he was going to get some sleep. Before he went upstairs he walked Sarah to the car. She was still afraid to hug him for fear of causing him any pain but Nathan didn't hesitate to take her into his arms and hold her close. The feel of her arms around him comforted him in a way nothing else did. He put his finger under her chin and lifted it so that her eyes met his. He leaned in and placed his lips tenderly on hers. The gentleness of his kiss and his tight embrace took Sarah by surprise and she felt her knees go weak making her cling to Nathan even more.
"Nathan, I know you have a lot on your mind and I hope that you will tell me what it is when you're ready." Sarah smoothed back the lock of hair that had dropped across his forehead.
"I will. I think between work, the wedding and my mother's upcoming visit I find that I am contemplating my life more than I usually allow myself. I'm realizing just how very blessed I am."
She agreed with him. "We are blessed Nathan."