Nathan awoke the following morning with the first rays of the day starting to lighten the room. Next to him, Elizabeth still slept peacefully, using his shoulder for her pillow as was now a common occurrence. Easing himself from underneath her, Nathan slipped from the bed. With the nights getting cooler, the wood floor felt cool on his bare feet before he slipped them into his slippers. Not bothering with his robe, Nathan headed for the bathroom. On the way, he peeked in to check on Jack.

The little boy was curled up in a ball in the bed. As he was facing the door, Nathan was happy to see a peaceful expression on the boy's face. Since his nightmare in Brookfield, Jack had not come searching either him or Elizabeth out because of a nightmare. Nathan was hoping the boy was starting to put the nightmares behind him.

Jack's arms were wrapped around a teddy bear that always stayed on his bed. His chin rested on the baseball cap that was on the bear's head. Though the arms that were clutching the bear obscured it, Nathan knew there was a baseball on the front of the bear, which had been a Christmas present from Bill a couple years back. Though Jack no longer carried it around with him, if he was at home the bear had to be in the bed with Jack for the little boy to allow himself to be tucked in.

Satisfied that Jack was fine, Nathan continued to the bathroom. A short time later, Nathan was padding back to the bedroom. Opening the closet, Nathan's eyes searched out the red serge that he had worn the majority of his adult life. Not finding it, he remembered that he was no longer an active member of the force. Knowing more how Bill felt about sending his uniforms back, Nathan had removed his uniforms from the closet the day before and packed them in a crate to be sent to Union City. As the Coulters had joined them for dinner the night before, Nathan has asked Lee to take the crate with him and get it to the mercantile. He did not want to be like bill and squirrel a uniform away, though the thought had crossed his mind.

"Is everything thing all right?" a sleepy voice asked from behind him.

Looking back over his shoulder, Nathan's gaze met the concerned eyes of Elizabeth. He wondered how long he had been staring into the closet and how long she may have been watching him.

"Everything is fine," Nathan assured her. "I may have just been looking for my uniform to put on," he admitted allowing a sheepish smile to come to his face.

"Now you know why women take so long to get dressed," Elizabeth replied lightly. "We have to think about it. Wear your blue plaid. The blue makes your eyes look brighter," she told him.

Though said with a matter of fact tone, the fact that Elizabeth noticed how his clothes affected his eyes made Nathan's heart skip a beat. It meant that she truly saw him and not the uniform as she had once tried to claim.

"Blue plaid it is," Nathan replied, turning back to his closet.

Pulling out the shirt and a pair of dark brown pants, Nathan turned from the closet with the intent of getting the rest of his clothes from the dresser before heading back to the bathroom. Despite having shared intimate relations a few times since that first rainy night, Elizabeth had not shown any indication of being comfortable changing clothes in front of him. Until she did, Nathan planned on showing respect to her feelings on the matter.

"You can change here if you want," Elizabeth commented. "It is not like there is anything the two of us have not seen already."

Nathan looked at her. "Are you sure?" he asked.

Elizabeth nodded even as she climbed out from underneath the blanket herself. "In fact, I think I should start getting dressed myself. I am sure Jack will not sleep much longer," she commented as she headed toward the closet.

Nathan made no further comment, instead getting what he needed from the drawers and moving over to the bed. Dropping the articles of clothing on top of the still rumpled blanket, Nathan began to get changed. Though he was aware of Elizabeth's movements not far away, he tried to keep his eyes averted. Nathan knew this was another step for Elizabeth in her healing and he did not want to do anything to make it harder or even awkward.

Other than the soft whispers of moving fabric, the room was quiet. Nathan tried to think of something to say. Something casual that might ease the tension in the room. The thought of commenting on the weather crossed his mind and he opened his mouth to say something. No words came out though. He never had been one for small talk. He worried now that any attempt might come out stilted and just cause the situation to feel more awkward.

So, they continued dressing in silence. Finally, slipping his suspenders over his shoulders, Nathan began searching out his shoes. They were still under the chair where he had pushed them out of the way last night rather than putting them in the closet. Moving to the chair, Nathan sat down in it. Before reaching under for the footwear though, he chanced a glance at Elizabeth.

Having put on her petticoats and corset, Elizabeth was in the process of pulling her dress on over her head. Nathan's breath caught as he watched the dark purple fabric fall into place over the white undergarments. It was such a delicate, beauty to see, that Nathan found himself wondering how any man could cause harm to a woman.

Nathan was still staring when Elizabeth, the fabric now settled correctly over her body and undergarments, glanced back over her shoulder. Nathan registered the soft shyness in the blue eyes, before it dawned on him that he had been caught watching and looked quickly away. Finding the shoes under the chair suddenly became much more interesting.

Quickly donning and tying his shoes, Nathan got to his feet.

"I am going to go care for the horses," Nathan said, walking toward the bedroom door. He was trying to keep his strides casual though inside he wanted to get out of the room as quickly as possible.

As he left the room, Nathan thought he might have heard Elizabeth starting to say something but he kept going. He knew he couldn't trust his voice right then. He would apologize later if she thought him walking out of the room on her up. As he approached the stairs, it dawned on Nathan that he had not brushed his hair and that he had put his shoes on the wrong feet.

Oh well, he thought. The horses would not care what his hair looked like. As for the shoes, I will fix them on the front porch, he told himself.

Reaching the front door, Nathan unlocked it and stepped into the crisp morning air that the sun was just beginning to put its warmth into. He breathed it in deeply as he pulled the door shut behind him, trying to calm his racing heart. Sitting down on the top step, Nathan quickly untied the shoes and switched them to the right feet. He could hear both Ally and Gabe's laughter in his head as he did so. Both of them would have a field day with this incident though Nathan, for one, did not intend to mention it to either of them.

As he headed for the barn, Nathan was grateful that the master bedroom had no windows that looked over this part of the yard. All the same, Nathan kept his gaze on his destination and not the house he had just left.


"Nath . . . "

As her husband disappeared into the hallway, Elizabeth did not bother finishing her last sentence. She had simply planned on pointing out that his shoes were on the wrong feet and he had not brushed out his hair. Not that the last item was really of any relevance. She kind of liked the unkempt look of Nathan's hair when he woke up. As for the shoes, with a soft smile of amusement, Elizabeth figured he would discover that issue on his own before too long. She did intend to check his shoes and make sure the mix-up had been remedied when he came back in from the barn.

Going back to putting on her own stockings and shoes, Elizabeth let out a giggle. She had caught Nathan watching her put the dress on. She knew it was that act that had him flustered, and she had to admit it did wonders for her self-confidence. How many times had she wondered if she was really even seen over the past year or so?

Nathan clearly saw her. He showed it in his everyday actions. The way he held her at night. The way he kissed the top of her head good-bye when he left the house. When he kept an eye on the kids so she could work on her story or write. The book he had bought her. Even in the gentle way he treated her when he made love to her.

Though she hated to admit it, part of her had worried the gentleness he had shown with her that first time would soon disappear, just as it had with Lucas. Yet, Nathan had held true to his promise. He waited for her to initiate intimacy, no matter what his own urges might be. She had only done so twice more since that first time but if that had bothered Nathan, he had not let it show.

Perhaps time number four needed to be soon. Nathan's actions this morning reminded her that he still desired her though he had the self-control not to force that desire on her.

Finished with the shoes, Elizabeth moved to the dresser. She took out the braid she had put her hair in the night before, brushed it out, and pinned her hair up for the day. Finished, Elizabeth left the room and went across the hall to Jack's room. As usual, the door was left open a crack. Pushing it open, Elizabeth found that the four-year-old was awake and trying to get his own clothes out for the day.

"Good morning, my sweet boy," Elizabeth said with a smile. She knew that before too long, Jack would protest that nickname for him just like he had being called Little Jack. Until he did though, Elizabeth intended to continue using it.

"Good morning, Mama," Jack replied, looking over at her as he pulled out his plaid pants that Rosemary had made him so he could match his Uncle Lee. While Elizabeth was not overly fond of the pants, Jack loved them. Once he had decided he wanted to wear them that day, talking him out of it was futile. The best one could do was to make sure the shirt did not clash with the plaid pants.

"Have you used the water closet this morning?" Elizabeth asked the boy.

Jack shook his head. "I will go now," was the verbal response.

Turning from the open drawer of the dresser, Jack placed the pants at the foot of his bed and headed out of the room in his night shirt. Elizabeth quickly selected a plain black shirt and put it with the pants before following. Her long strides allowed her to reach the bathroom at the same time as her son. Though Jack was now insisting on doing a lot on his own, Elizabeth assisted when needed. When he was done, the two headed back for his room where she gave verbal instructions to make sure things got on correctly but allowed Jack to do it, though she did have to re-button his shirt and retie the shoelaces.

Leaving Jack's bedroom a second time, the boy asked, "where is Dad?"

"Your Dad went out to the barn already, to feed the horses," Elizabeth replied.

"I need to feed, Nate," Jack stated as the started slowly down the steps, one of the boy's hands firmly in her own. "Can I go join him?"

"You may," Elizabeth said, planning on standing on the front porch and watching Jack make his way to the barn. "Just remember when you get to the barn you stand at the door and make sure your Dad knows you are there before entering."

"Yes, Mama," Jack replied excitedly.

Though he remained at her side on the way down the steps, as soon as he reached the first floor he darted for the front door. Standing on tip toes and reaching up, Jack managed to get a hold of the knob. As Nathan had left it unlocked, the knob turned easily and the boy managed to awkwardly pull the door open and dart outside.

With long steps, Elizabeth followed him outside. Standing by the porch rail, she watched as her son hurried across the yard to the barn. Jack only stopped running when he reached the barn door, where he paused. Too far away to hear his voice, Elizabeth did see Nathan appear in the doorway and motion Jack inside. Knowing that their son was safe with Nathan, Elizabeth turned to head inside and start breakfast. She started with the coffee, making it the way that Ally had shown her. She was getting the fire in the stove going when footsteps behind her let her know that Ally was up as well, now.

"Good morning, Ally," Elizabeth said, glancing over her shoulder briefly at the girl before returning to her task.

"Good morning," Ally replied. "Have you started breakfast?" the girl asked coming over to the counter.

"Just the coffee," Elizabeth told her.

"Then can we make French Toast?" Ally asked, her voice rising with hopefulness as she asked the question. "We can make a topping for it with the rest of the berries Jack and I picked yesterday."

Elizabeth nodded. "Sounds good. There is some sausage we can fry if your Dad wants meat with it. You start mixing the egg mixture to dip it in and I will get the pan ready and slice some bread," Elizabeth replied.

Ally agreed and the two of them went about the tasks. The easy atmosphere of the room held no traces of their first morning under the same roof. The two were quiet for a bit but it was a comfortable silence. Neither felt the need to fill it right away. It wasn't until Ally was creating a topping from the berries as Elizabeth started frying the French toast in the now hot skillet that anything other than words needed for the task, were spoken.

It was Ally who spoke first.

"Will anything change with our schooling arrangement now that Dad will be around?"Ally asked, dipping a slice of bread into the egg mixture as Elizabeth took the finished toast out of the skillet.

"I do not foresee anything changing," Elizabeth replied as she dropped the new piece of bread into the skillet. The egg batter sizzled when it hit the melted butter in the hot pan. "Your Dad will have work to do in his workshop. He's got several orders to fill still, including the dinning room set that needs to be shipped to Hamilton for the anniversary at the end of next month."

"He gets too many orders and we might see less of him now than when he was a Mountie, even if he is just across the yard," Ally commented.

Oh, I hope not, Elizabeth thought, surprising herself with the thought. She was about to answer when Nathan spoke up instead.

"I do not plan on letting that happen though I may need to put in some long days," Nathan commented. Both Ally and Elizabeth looked over to see Nathan standing in the doorway. Though it appeared as if Nathan had used his fingers to make his hair a little less unruly the dark locks still had an unkept look to them. "Jack took Nate to the sunroom to play," he added, before Elizabeth could even think about asking.

Elizabeth glanced quickly down at Nathan's feet and noted that the shoes were now on the correct feet. "That is fine," she replied as she turned her attention back to the bread in the skillet. "I hope he didn't hinder you too much."

"Jack can slow me down with chores all he wants," Nathan replied as he walked into the room and tugged playfully on the braid Ally had put in her hair that morning. "This one certainly did when she was his age, and I wouldn't trade a single moment of the time spent with her to have gotten those tasks done any quicker."

"Was I really that bad?" Ally asked, tilting her head to look up at her father.

Nathan smiled down at her. "Probably not though I felt completely in over my head. Of course most parents get to start with an infant who just screams and cries until you figure out how to make it happy. I started out with a grieving four year old, who missed her mom, liked to stomp her foot, sometimes with my foot underneath it, and could run away."

Ally blushed and looked sheepish. "I don't remember all that," she admitted. "I remember missing mom and crying a lot. However, I also remember every time I woke up at night, you were there. I also remember going fishing and not wanting to touch the worm or the fish."

"I do not blame you on those accounts," Elizabeth said, shuddering a bit at the thought of touching a worm or a fish. Feeling eyes on her, after flipping a piece of French toast, she glanced over to find Nathan gazing at her, with tenderness in his eyes.

"If you come fishing with us, I promise to bait your hook and handle any fish you may catch," Nathan told her.

Elizabeth smiled. "I may come fishing with you, but I think I will leave the actual fishing to you, Jack and Ally."

"Can we go fishing this Saturday?" Ally asked hopefully.

Nathan looked to Elizabeth. "A family day out on Saturday sounds nice, if the weather cooperates," Elizabeth conceded.

"Yes!" Ally exclaimed.

"Soon she is not going to want to go fishing with Dad because she is batting her eyes at some guy," Nathan commented.

"The guy I want to bat eyes at is away," Ally lamented. Realizing she had said the words out loud, Ally ducked her head as her cheeks grew warm.

"I guess that is a good thing for me," Nathan commented. "And remember what I said. You are too young to be making any long term commitments. If you two truly care for one another, then those feelings will not change."

Ally glanced up at Nathan. Elizabeth saw a knowing look pass between father and daughter and wondered if it had something to do with Nathan's feelings for her. Feeling like she was intruding, Elizabeth turned her attention back to breakfast.

"I will remember," Ally replied.

"Good," Nathan told her leaning in to place a kiss on top of her head. "I am going to check on Jack," he said, turning to leave the kitchen.

Elizabeth waited until Nathan's footsteps had faded away before addressing Ally. "All good fathers are reluctant to let go of there 'little girls," she said. "My own father was when I came out west and there was no guy involved and I was twenty-two. Besides, your Dad is right Ally. Do not make plans that will keep you from finding out what you truly want from life. Robert is doing that now. If he truly cares for you, he will allow you to do that before asking you to make any commitments."

"Eighteen seems like years away," Ally said with a sigh. "How did you wait until you were twenty-two to leave home?"

Elizabeth chuckled. "I felt the same way you do when I was your age. Life has a way of happening differently then we think it will when we are teenagers," she told Ally as the two of them finished breakfast.