Hello, my beautiful Heartie family! It's been a minute haha
I apologize for not writing for a while again, school started up and it feels like I barely have time to breathe sometimes. I was really stressed this week (midterms -^- rip) so I decided to read through some of your guys' comments on my previous posts to try and cheer myself up. Needless to say, it helped, and I decided to write a quick story for you guys as a thank-you :)
Shoutout to heather4cu for the idea ;) Hope you all enjoy it!
The Grant family was finishing up the dinner that Nathan had made. It had gotten dark, and although the snow had stopped falling, it was a little windy out which created little snowdrifts along the outside of the rowhouse.
Nathan got up first, tossed a couple of pieces of wood in the fire and headed upstairs without a word. Elizabeth followed him with her gaze. A little perplexed, she took a deep breath and started clearing the table. 'He doesn't normally go to bed this early, she thought, 'maybe he's just going to grab something. Allie had neatly folded the tablecloth and Jack was attempting to pick up the cutlery with his little fingers. Elizabeth smiled before leaning down to pick up a rather frustrated and tired little Jack.
"Thank you for helping mommy!" Elizabeth said with a smile as she collected the remaining scattered cutlery.
"I'm going to get ready for bed," Allie said after helping clean up.
"Alright, I'll try to pop in after I put Jack to bed," Elizabeth responded with a warm smile.
Jack went to bed without a hassle. He was tuckered out after their skating adventure and was practically asleep before Elizabeth got him to bed. Gently closing the door behind her, she left a small crack in the door so that she would be able to hear him if he were to need her. Elizabeth walked towards her and Nathan's bedroom. The lights were out, so she walked in quietly to check on Nathan. Much to her surprise, he was nowhere to be seen. His clothes had been put away, so he had been there, but where was he now? Elizabeth quickly speed-walked over to the stairs and quietly called his name before going down to the kitchen.
Before reaching the end of the stairs she heard him answer.
"I'm here..." Nathan responded, "calm down," he added hearing the slight panic in her voice.
Looking over, she saw Nathan by the fire in his pyjamas with a cup of tea in hand. "Where did you go? You barely said anything during dinner and then disappeared. Are you avoiding me?" She pestered him, halfway joking, partially serious.
"Of course I'm not avoiding you," he responded with a slight chuckle. He placed his mug next to the other one on the small coffee table in front of the fireplace. Taking a deep breath he walked over to Elizabeth and gave her a hug, relaxing into her embrace.
Holding him for a minute, Elizabeth could feel his warmth against her. "You feel a little warm," she said, as she lifted her hand and gently placed it against his forehead.
"I think I probably caught a bit of a cold. It's been chilly the past few days and Faith mentioned some people in town had gotten sick." Nathan said with a slightly raspy voice. "I was hoping some tea and honey would help my throat. I made you a cup as well if you want it." He continued while pointing towards the two cups that sat side-by-side in the light of the fireplace. "I warmed up some milk for the kids too, but they had already gone to bed so I didn't bother bringing them upstairs," he added.
"I told you to remember your hat," Elizabeth scolded joshingly.
"I knew that was coming," Nathan responded with a smirk. He gave Elizabeth's hand a gentle squeeze and returned to his tea. "I meant to come back and say 'goodnight' to the kids, but they were already in bed by the time I came back downstairs," he continued in response to her first question.
Elizabeth pulled out the medical kit and measured out a dose of medicine. "We must have just missed each other," she concluded.
"Sorry," Nathan commented.
"No need to be sorry, I was just overthinking and got worried," Elizabeth added as she sat down by her husband on the satee and handed him the medication.
Nathan reached his arm over and gently rubbed Elizabeth's back. He paused, "I'm sorry for making you worry..." he said softly.
"It's okay," Elizabeth smiled and started sipping the tea Nathan had made her.
The pair sat in front of the fire. They watched as the reflection of the flames danced against the ceiling.
"You said you wouldn't help me if I got sick," Nathan remarked, breaking the silence.
"What!? I was obviously joking!" Elizabeth responded after giving Nathan a playful slap on the shoulder. Nathan just smiled and smoothed Elizabeth's shiny dark brown hair. He enjoyed messing with her whenever she got too serious. They learned to balance each other out, and Nathan learned how to gauge when it was appropriate to crack jokes and when it wasn't (sometimes he learned the hard way).
Quiet footsteps ascending the stairs caused the pair to turn their heads. Allie peeked through the railing with a little smile. "I thought you were going to come by my room," Allie remarked. She pointed two fingers toward her eyes and then pointed them over toward Elizabeth.
"I thought you were asleep already," Elizabeth defended with a laugh.
Allie walked over to the satee and stood by her father.
"I heated up some milk kiddo if you want some, it should still be warm," Nathan said, looking up at Allie and gently placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Thanks!" she said quickly, and walked over to the stove. Elizabeth leaned back into Nathan's shoulder, took a deep breath and smiled as she shifted her gaze from Allie to Mountie Jack's painting above the fireplace. She never could have imagined such peace after she had lost Jack. 'Life teaches you many lessons, some are easier than others, but every one of them is important in their own way', she thought.
It's a bit of an abrupt end to the chapter, but I hope you enjoy this chill glimpse into the lives of the Grant family, as seen through my eyes. Many blessings to you! Until next time 3 - heartiedreamer
