Despite not getting much sleep, Nathan awoke early the next morning. He was still full of adrenaline from the day before but he was also happy that he'd had the foresight to book a late morning flight down to the Bahamas. He felt a weight on his left side and smiled as he looked at his new bride sleeping softly with her head on his chest. She was snuggled up against Nathan while he had his left arm wrapped around her. Nathan watched Elizabeth for a few minutes and then lifted his left arm up in the air to admire the new ring on his left hand.

"Is it morning?" a sleepy sounding Elizabeth asked.

Nathan laughed. "Yes, sweetheart. I'm sorry if I disturbed you by moving my arm. I can't stop staring at the new ring on my left hand. Or as Allie would say, my new bling." Nathan kissed Elizabeth on the forehead and she responded by lifting her head up and then leaning down to kiss him on the lips. He responded in kind and soon enough, they were expressing their love to one another. Once they settled, Elizabeth was lying in Nathan's arms again, this time with her hand slowly rubbing his bare chest.

"Well Mrs. Grant, as much as I could lie here with you all day, we do have a luxurious Caribbean resort awaiting us. And we did agree to check on the kids briefly before heading to JFK."

Elizabeth smiled. "I do love the sound of my new name. It's too bad I have to wait until we return to do the legal paperwork to make it official."

"It's all part of the family blending process. We are already the Grant family."

Elizabeth gave a weaker smile this time and excused herself to use the bathroom and shower.

Meanwhile, Nathan put on his robe and answered a knock at the door.

A young waiter stood there with a rolling table with two covered plates, a covered basket in the middle, a coffee pot with two mugs, and two mimosas. There were also two bottles of water that they could drink on the way to the airport.

"Detective Grant, breakfast is courtesy of Mr. Thatcher. Your car will also be here to pick you up in ninety minutes so you have plenty of time."

Nathan allowed the waiter to wheel the table into the room while he grabbed some cash from his wallet. He tipped the young man and then locked the door behind him.

"What's all this, Nathan?" Elizabeth asked as she exited the bathroom now fully dressed in dark jeans and a purple v-neck three-quarter sleeve shirt.

Nathan held up the card that came with the breakfast table and handed it to his wife while he motioned his head towards the bathroom and quickly hurried into it.

Elizabeth smiled and opened the card.

Elizabeth and Nathan,

We figured you wouldn't have much time to think about a proper breakfast this morning but we wanted to make sure you had some sustenance before your trip. We will make sure the kids are awake by the time you pass by on the way to the airport. Enjoy the food and we will see you soon.

Love,

Mother and Father

Elizabeth put the card into her travel purse and went about putting her wedding dress and Nathan's suit into their respective garment bags. She then packed the remainder of their wedding items into a small tote bag. By the time she was done, Nathan had finished his own shower and was also wearing his dark jeans with a navy long sleeve shirt.

He quickly walked across the room and kissed his wife again. "Thank you for packing everything up, sweetheart."

"It's my pleasure. We'd better eat before this gets cold."

"Yes, let's eat. The car will also be here in just over an hour now."

Just over an hour later, the car pulled up to the now Grant house and Elizabeth could barely open the front door before she was clobbered by a very happy young girl and an equally excited toddler. Nathan stood behind her chuckling and eventually took Jack from her.

"Ok kids, we just stopped by for a quick hello on our way to the airport." Nathan said as he walked the kids over to one of the couches and sat down with Jack on his lap and his other arm around Allie. Meanwhile, Elizabeth headed up to the master bedroom to hang up the garment bags with the wedding attire. She also placed the tote bag with the other items on the corner chair so she could unpack it after the honeymoon. By the time she went back downstairs, her new family was happily chatting in the living room.

"Nathan sweetheart, I think we need to get going."

"Yes, you're right my love."

Elizabeth took Jack into her arms once again. "Ok baby, now you be good for Grandma and Grandpa. Mama and Nathan are going to call you and Allie everyday on the video chat so you can see us."

"Ok Mama. I wuv you."

"I love you too, my sweet boy. I'm going to miss you but we will be back in a few days and then Nathan and Allie will live here with us. Remember, we talked about that. Allie is your new sister."

"Awlie sister," Jack clapped excitedly while Elizabeth laughed.

"And you be good too, Allie-girl. Listen to Grandma Grace and Grandpa William and please help with Jack too."

"I will Dad. I love you and I'm really happy for you." Allie said as she hugged Nathan. He lifted Allie in his arms and hugged her at eye level.

"I'm happy for all of us, sweetheart." Nathan said as he gave Allie a kiss on the cheek and set her back on the ground.

Nathan and Elizabeth then traded kids so they could say good-bye to Jack and Allie respectively.

Five hours later, the newlyweds were taken to their Bahamian honeymoon suite by one of the butlers. After unloading the luggage, he gave them a quick tour of the gigantic one bedroom oceanfront suite and then showed them to the living room area where an ice bucket with a bottle of chilled champagne sat along with a large charcuterie board.

"Mr. and Mrs. Grant, we have ten restaurants on property so you're more than welcome to have a late lunch if you want something substantial. You can also order room service at any time. Mr. Thatcher alerted us that you might prefer an early dinner instead so he's arranged for a romantic dinner on the beach at five. Here is a resort map and the location is just down the path from this building. If you walk out onto the terrace, you can even see your table already set up in the sand."

"Please call us Nathan and Elizabeth. Will you be our regular butler?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yes, my name is Edward Ferguson. All of our resort butlers were trained at the academy just outside London. Should I be unavailable, my backup is Miss Sarah Lewis."

"Thank you Edward. I don't think we will need much help inside the suite but we will probably need help with meals and such." Nathan added.

"Very well, Sir. My card is right next to the phone. Feel free to ring me anytime. Congratulations and welcome to the Bahamas!"

Edward left and Nathan looked at his new bride. "I don't know about you, sweetheart but I am famished."

"Well, even with the wonderful breakfast and then the meal on the plane, we have been working up quite an appetite haven't we?" Elizabeth winked.

"Mrs. Grant, if you keep doing that, we will never eat."

Elizabeth laughed. "Fair enough. Shall we take this gorgeous looking charcuterie board and the champagne out to the terrace? There's also a mini bar with snacks so maybe we can find some chips too."

"Sounds perfect. You realize I will never want to go to a hotel that's not all-inclusive?"

"Well, it's a good thing that you're now part of a family that owns a chain of luxury resorts." Elizabeth said as she leaned over to kiss Nathan.

A few minutes later and now dressed in bathing suits, they settled on the terrace with their food on the small table between them. They took a few minutes to savor the turquoise water on the sandy beach.

"Well, this is a big difference from New York in February." Nathan said with a smile.

Elizabeth smiled back. "It is. But we are only here for what's now less than four days so we should enjoy every single moment of it."

"That won't be a problem, 'Lizbeth."

The couple enjoyed the food and champagne for a bit. When the meal was done, they set the dishes in the hallway outside the suite and then moved over to one of the couches that overlooked the terrace. They held hands.

"Nathan, I've been thinking about something and I'm not quite sure how to bring it up."

"You can talk to me about anything, Elizabeth." Nathan squeezed Elizabeth's hand to encourage her.

"Honey, you're such a wonderful father to Allie and you're also going to be the only father that Little Jack ever knows. Of course, I will make sure he knows all about Jack as well and that he is his birth father but you're going to be the one that raises him and takes care of him."

Nathan just stared at Elizabeth silently encouraging her to continue.

"What would you say if I asked you to adopt Jack and become his legal father too?"

Nathan now had tears in his eyes that threatened to fall. It took him a few minutes to recover.

"Elizabeth, are you sure about this? What brought this on?"

"It's been on my mind since we got engaged actually. But what sealed it was one of my students. Her name is Vanessa. I had complimented her last name and said it was also a perfect stage name and she said she actually hated it. Her father disappeared when she was five and her mother remarried shortly after. So, her stepfather loved her and raised her as his own. She even calls him Dad. Her mother and stepfather had two more children and everyone in the house had the same last name except for Vanessa so she always felt left out. She recently decided she was going to honor her stepdad by using his last name professionally. Vanessa's story just struck a chord with me. I don't want Jack or Allie to ever feel left out, especially if we are blessed with more children that we've created out of our love."

Nathan was now crying and Elizabeth wasn't far behind. "What about Jack? I know how much you wanted Little Jack to know about him and I told you at Christmas that he'd always be an active part of our family."

"And he will be through my memories and stories. And Lee and Rosie's memories and stories. And Charlotte and Tom's memories and stories. Tom already has two young sons and Tom Sr. had two brothers so the Thornton name will carry on. Little Jack is part of our family now and should be Jack Thornton Grant. I want us all to share the same name. And if you two are ok with it, I would be honored to adopt Allie and legally be her mother. I would never replace Colleen but I believe Allie has enough love in her heart for both of us."

"She has been hoping for you to be her mother for so long now."

"Really?"

"Really. But I do think you should ask her how she feels."

"I would be happy to do that."

"And it would be my honor to adopt Jack."

Elizabeth smiled and leaned over to kiss Nathan. As they pulled apart, Nathan gave his wife a knowing look and then gently pulled her up out of her chair and led her inside to the bedroom.

Two hours later, Nathan and Elizabeth walked hand in hand down to the beach to their private table in the sand. After a long morning of travel followed by a lazy afternoon in their suite, the couple was famished once again. Elizabeth wore a long, flowy turquoise sundress while Nathan wore khaki shorts with a short sleeve white button down shirt. Both wore flip flops since they'd be barefoot once on the beach.

Edward was waiting for them holding a bottle of Reisling that they had requested earlier. After a fresh crabcake appetizer, a simple tortellini with fresh basil pesto was served. The island specialty: guava duff, was served for dessert. The newlyweds capped off their first day of marriage with a walk along the beach followed by a repeat of the morning's activities.

Over the next three days, the couple savored the luxury resort and their time alone together. Nathan and Elizabeth video chatted with the children briefly each morning and again each evening before the kids went to bed. They attended high tea every afternoon in the clubhouse, swam at the pool and the beach, dined in eight different restaurants on property, took a glass bottom boat ride as well as a catamaran cruise, strolled through the town closest to the resort, and attended a show at the nearby sister resort. It was the perfect start to their marriage.

As the brief honeymoon came to an end, both Nathan and Elizabeth were refreshed and energized and ready to begin life as a family of four.