AN: So, this chapter is short than most and I was originally going to have another section and simply post at a later date as I want to get to work on my NaNo Daily word count, but I got to the end of section two and the chapter just felt complete to me. What comes next will fit better in the next chapter. Not sure when that next chapter might come, but in the meanwhile, I hope you enjoy this one.

Starting to awake, the first thing Rachel was aware of was the ache in certain parts of her body. Even as she struggled to shake the fog of sleep, she tried to recall why she would feel such away. It came to her in a surge of happiness and concern. She had given birth to a baby boy.

Gilbert's son.

Opening her eyes, she sought out the cradle Nathan and his family had made so lovingly for her. She felt a surge of panic when she found it empty. Her eyes darted around the room, soon resting on the figure sitting in the rocking chair that must have been brought in from the living room while she slept.

There sat Tyler, fully dressed still with his chin tucked against his chest as he slept. A little blanket-swaddled bundle held securely in his arms.

Gilbert Joshua Randall - their son.

Tears seeped into her eyes, blurring the happy sight. Gilbert would not know the son he had helped given life to, but that son would have a good, strong man to guide him in the years to come. Watching both of them sleep, Rachel knew that Elizabeth was right. This is what Gilbert would have wanted for her and for their son. If he could not be here to provide, protect and shower them with love it would give him peace to know that a good man was filling those roles.

A tiny cry broke the silence of the room. Rachel reached up to wipe the tears away as the sound stirred Tyler awake.

"Good morning there, Gilbert," Tyler crooned to the baby. "Looks like you are going to be the wake up call around the house for a while, huh?"

The comment caused Rachel to giggle even as a wave of love for Tyler and the baby he held, washed over her. She was grateful that she had said yes to Tyler's proposal. No, she was not quite done grieving her husband Gilbert. A part of her still wished it was he who had been here to experience the joy of the child. However, the emptiness in her that his death had created was being filled by Tyler. His love was teaching her to love again even as her heart continued to heal.

Tyler looked up from the infant in his arms at the sound. His smile grew bigger as his eyes met Rachel's. "You think I am going to be the only one talking to this baby?" he asked her.

Rachel shook her head. "No," she admitted. After all, she had been talking to Gilbert even before he had made his appearance. "However, waking up to seeing my husband holding our son, is a wonderful sight to wake up to."

"How are you feeling?" Tyler asked, getting to his feet, the infant cradled safely in one arm. The baby was still making its presence know with his cries.

"I am sore and tired, but oh so happy," Rachel told him.

"All feelings that I think you are entitled to," Tyler told her even as he turned his attention back to Gilbert to figure out what the infant wanted.

A quick check revealed that the baby needed a clean diaper. Tyler took care of that before handing the infant off to Rachel to see if the infant wanted to nurse. The room soon grew quiet as Gilbert found his source of nutrients and started sucking happily.

Tyler leaned in and placed a kiss on Rachel's cheek. "I am going to go cook breakfast for the rest of us," he told her.

"Do you want to change first?" Rachel asked, realizing her husband was still wearing the clothes he had put on after changing out of his uniform the evening before.

Tyler shook his head. "I have a feeling I may be taking a nap after breakfast if that little one lets me," he told her. "Why change?"

Rachel noted that Tyler did still look tired and she supposed he had a right to be. She knew he was still awake when she had drifted off to sleep after Gilbert's birth. Remembering how she had found him when she awoke, Rachel wondered if Tyler had even laid in the bed at all last night.

"Do you have to work today?" Rachel asked, hoping her concern for Tyler came through in the tone of her voice. She didn't want him thinking she was asking because she expected him to be around to take care of her. Yes, she would like Tyler around today but she would be fine without him. Though the thought of him working after being up with her last night . . .

"No. Nathan said he did not want to see me away from this cabin for the next couple of days, so unless headquarters send new orders, I will be nearby. Nathan said he would bring me any messages that come for me."

"I hope no messages come for you for a little while at least," Rachel replied.

"That makes two of us," Tyler told her. "Let me go start breakfast," he said again, and turned for the door.

Watching his retreating back, Rachel knew she did not want him to leave the room without telling him something.

"Tyler," Rachel said, pausing as her husband came to a stop and looked back at her. "I am thankful that I will be raising theses two children with you at my side. I love you."

Tyler didn't give a vocal response to her words. The smile on the man's face as he crossed back to her clearly told of the joy the words brought. The kiss that he gave her, left Rachel no doubt that her love was returned.

When Tyler pulled away, the only thing keeping Rachel from continuing the kiss was the feeding infant in her arms. Once again, she watched as Tyler headed from the bedroom and out into the main room of the cabin.

In the quietness, Rachel could hear the sounds of her husband as he started breakfast. Soon she heard a soft, musical sound drifting into the bedroom. It did not take her long to realize the sound was Tyler whistling. Rachel thought the sound was more beautiful than the songs of the birds on a spring morning.

Looking down at the nursing baby, Rachel smiled as green eyes looked back up at her. "We have a wonderful man looking out for us Gilbert. I think our future is going to be a happy one," she told the baby boy, proving that Tyler had been right. He wasn't the only one that would be talking to the baby in the days to come.

Gilbert was tucked comfortably into the cradle Nathan and his family had made, which had been placed close to bed. While Rachel sat with her back against the headboard of the bed, Tyler was sitting in a chair at the bedside. Both had plates filled with the eggs, sausage and toast Tyler had cooked for them. Rachel's eyes kept drifting between the plate she held and the sleeping newborn in the cradle.

"It amazes me every time how small babies are when they are first born," Tyler commented, his own gaze finding Gilbert more than once.

"How many newborns have you held?" Rachel asked.

"Well, I have delivered four since becoming a Mountie, and have held about three other infants. One infant, I could not even tell you its name nor the name of its parents. I was waiting to board a train in Union City and this woman was trying to hold the crying infant and search her hand bag for her ticket. Suddenly she spots me and holds out the baby asking me to hold him. I suppose she figured a Mountie was not going to try running off with her child. I remember talking to the infant quietly and swaying back and forth with it while the woman found her ticket. The conductor called for people to start boarding. She thanked me, took the baby, and I never saw her again."

Rachel smiled at the story. She knew how that woman felt, seeing the red serge and knowing she could count on help no matter how minor.

"Do Mounties realize just how important those seemingly small things can be to a person?" Rachel asked looking at Tyler.

Her husband met her gaze with an easy but unknowing look. It was clear to Rachel that Tyler was not sure what she was getting at.

"Well take the woman in your story. You do not know her story, just that at that moment she was alone. Perhaps she was taken a short train trip to meet her husband or perhaps she was alone and going home to her parents. Whichever it was, for a few minutes she was suddenly not alone on that trip and had a few minutes that she could relax her arms from holding the baby to accomplish something with the knowledge that her child was safe. She didn't know you, but the uniform assured her it was okay."

"The day your first letter came to me, I was walking back to my room at the Queen of Hearts and a fight broke out. I am not sure what it was about, as I never asked, but hearing the shouting reminded me of James and the way he acted when he drank, which never ended well for me. Constable Grant and Constable Kinslow were across the street. Their red serge represented safety and comfort to me in that moment, just like the day of my assault. I ran to them and they did not push my concerns aside as silly. Nathan held me until I felt calm and then Constable Kinslow walked me to the room and got me tea. Both could have said they had more important things to do, but they didn't. Those actions told me I was safe, just like you made me feel safe in Landsdale after Gilbert's death."

"They might all seem like simple actions to you guys. A few moments out of a long day of duties, but having been a recipient of them, there is nothing simple about them. They make an unbearable situation seem easier, even if it is just for a moment."

Tyler nodded, staying quiet as he absorbed his wife's words. He had always thought it was the big things that made a good career. Those hard cases that were solved or the awards received. No one won a reward for holding a baby for a frazzled mother or other a few moments of comfort to a woman during one of the worst moments of her life, but perhaps that was what really defined a successful career.

Before he could even attempt to articulate his thoughts, the sound of the front door reached them.

"That may be one of the Coulters with Autumn," Tyler said, getting to his feet. He placed his plate on the bureau as he walked to the door of the bedroom.

As Tyler left the bedroom, it was the quietness that soothed Rachel. She heard a soft murmur of voices which told her that nothing was wrong. The quietness meant that the sleeping baby was not awakened.

After a few minutes, the door opened and shut again and then Autumn was coming in quietly with Tyler behind her.

"Can I see my baby brother?" Autumn asked quietly, a huge grin on her face.

Rachel was sure her smile equaled her daughter's as she nodded her consent. "Try not to wake him right now though," she cautioned as she pointed to the cradle.

Autumn hurried forward and dropped to her knees beside the cradle. The expression on her face could only be described as raptured.

"Welcome to the family Gilbert Joshua," Autumn whispered. "I promise to be the best big sister I can be."

Rachel beamed as she looked at her two children. Despite all the heartache her first two marriages had brought, these children were the result of those unions. She would not give up either one of them for anything, not even to be spared that heartache.

Looking from the children to Tyler, she found her husband watching the children with the same love and pride she felt. She didn't know what the future held for any of them but in that moment she realized it really did not matter. Whatever happened, they would face it together. She was not alone. James had given her the miracle of motherhood despite all his other faults. That had been his reason to be in her life. Gilbert had shown her what true love was. He had been a beautiful season of her life despite the tragic end. She knew she was a lucky woman to find a second love, especially so soon after that first true love. Tyler she hoped would be her lifetime. She truly wanted this third marriage to be forever.