sorry for the long delay, between surgery & internet troubles...anywho, on to the finale. (a warning of sorts: i usually don't go for the all out mushy-happy endings, but i felt seth needed a happy ending).

Chapter 10: Moving on

— nine months later—

"Took you long enough." Seth commented casually as Sol came riding up to the store.

"Yeah, well, the proceedings didn't go as quickly as intended—the jury felt a sense of pity for the condition I put him in."

"Well I was a day out from riding to find you."

"Well I just might have killed you if you'd gone off and left her." Sol cast his tired eyes up to the second floor window. "How is she?"

"She's alright. Doc's confined her to bed now," Seth shook his head, silently laughing, "she fights like a wild cat about it." Sol laughed softly.

"She know I went to Yankton?" An uncomfortable silence fell between the two old friends.

"Yeah, she knows."

"What do I tell her?" That was the mother of all questions. Sol and Nora both vividly remembered that night nine months ago when Andrew Hunt had tried to not only kill Seth, but Nora as well. The Federals had finally pronounced judgment now that all the information from Virginia was in, and set a sentence. Neither Sol nor Seth knew exactly what they should tell Nora about her twin brother in her current condition.

"We'll leave it to her I guess." Seth said uncertainly.

"May I see her?" Sol's face brightened as he and Seth walked into the store, heading up the stairs. Seth paused outside his door, knocking once before pushing it open.

"Hello Nora. It's good to see you looking so well." Sol smiled warmly as she returned a weak smile.

"Welcome back Sol. Trust you had a safe trip." She attempted to sit up more, Seth moving to help.

"Safe trip," he nodded before shaking his head in disbelief still smiling, "you already look full to bursting, and you've how many months left now?"

"About three months."

"No surprise you're confined to bed." Nora grumbled incoherently as Seth laughed silently.

"So, what'd they give him?" She suddenly asked, the sadness, fear and maybe even anger evident on her voice.

"Coupled with the information from us and the men in Virginia, he'll be hung for murder."

Once Seth was well enough, he and Sol had sat her down for a nice long talk and she told them all that she knew about Andy and his work. He worked under a doctor who had been commissioned by the Confederacy to find the perfect neurotoxin, so instead of shooting straight bullets which didn't always guarantee a kill, every man hit with this would be paralyzed completely, left alive to lay there and starve. A more gruesome prospect to Nora that being shot. But no better way to guarantee victory than to be sure enemy troops couldn't regroup once attacked.

But this doctor didn't stop his work when the war ended. He kept right with it, enlisting the brightest of minds he taught at the university in his ongoing cause. He'd never had a student so devoted as Andrew Hunt, who took the extra step to move out West, looking for new, better compounds.

That, and the police had started getting nosey around Andy's private lab, thanks to reports from neighbors about nauseating smells and mysterious bloodstains. He told Nora he didn't kill people in his experiments, but that it did require something of a minor surgery. But the police wouldn't understand it, so he managed to convince her to go out west not only to escape the troubles there, but it would be a great way to start over he had said, leaving all his work behind. Nora hated herself for having believed him.

Sol had shot first that night, lowering the gun just enough so the bullet passed through Andy's jaw. The suddenness of the shot had startled him into pulling the trigger of his own gun, the bullet missing Nora, his hand having fallen away.

Keeping both he and Seth alive for the next month had been the challenge. Seth had been so far poisoned, they were having to find ways to force air into his lungs as they poured through Andy's notes, looking for anything that might lead them to a cure.

And Andy, even though the bullet had been removed, his jaw was never fully functional again. Everything from eating, to talking, to swallowing had been disrupted, but they couldn't let him die.

All it had taken was time. Time for Andy to be stable enough to travel to Yankton. Time for the chemicals to pass through Seth's system such that he could breath on his own. And they would all be forever indebted to the Doc for everything he had done.

Nora shook her head slowly, a mixture of sadness and relief coming to her face. Neither Seth nor Sol could bring themselves to say 'I'm sorry,' as they both felt the man was getting what he deserved for the things he did. Suddenly Nora lurched forward, taking a sharp breath, hands moving to her stomach.

"What's wrong?" Seth immediately asked as she expelled a breath, her face loosening before scrunching up again.

"Kicking…I think it's a fight." She said with a smile, her voice lighthearted even though her face was scrunched in a grimace. Seth placed a hand on her stomach rubbing gently. "Seems they might have their daddy's temper."

"I hope not."

"They?" Sol asked curiously as both Seth and Nora turned to face him. "You're not…?" Nora nodded.

"Twins."

xxxxxx

—eight years later—

Mason and Samuel could not have been more oppositely matched. While Mason took a page from his parents' book for hands-on work, Samuel was quite drawn to his books and numbers. Neither Seth nor Nora knew where he got it from.

But their lives had all been changed with the birth of their daughter Ellen six years ago. Nora had never seen Seth's face brighter than the moment he first held his daughter in his arms. While he raised his twin sons to be gentlemen, he had never been so playful with them until Ellen came along.

Nora couldn't be more pleasantly surprised about everything—from their house on the western slope, to their marriage, to their three children, who at the moment were all cooped up in the living room. Mason and Samuel were engrossed in a chess game while Ellen sat near the roaring fire with her doll. Tomorrow was Christmas, and the small packages under the three had been points of excitement and guessing games for them for days.

Seth was out somewhere, but would be home soon as usual. And the children couldn't be more anxious for something new, since their mother kept them in the house all day, not wanting them in the falling snow to catch sick on Christmas Eve.

Besides there'd been enough to do in the kitchen and around the house that having three helpers was most welcome. And despite their groaning, Nora though it best Mason and Samuel learned their way around a kitchen. They knew their mother wouldn't begrudge them their complaints, but they dared not voice them around their father.

"Daddy!" Nora smiled as she heard Ellen's cry followed the front door closing.

"Hello sweetie." Ellen giggled and Nora knew Seth had scooped her up in his arms. "And what have we here?"

"Samuel's beating me." Mason said disappointedly.

"We all lose sometimes son," Seth said softly, "but I see a move for you that could almost win it."

"Don't tell him dad!" Samuel cut in, looking up at Seth pleadingly. Seth couldn't get over how perfectly their eyes matched Nora's.

"Come on dad—tell me." Mason pleaded.

"No. I've told you enough, and now you need to find it yourself. Once the game ends, I'll show it to you if you haven't already found it." Mason turned back to studying the board without another word as Seth moved to the kitchen, still holding Ellen.

"I think I've picked up a strange growth." He bounced Ellen playfully as Nora turned with a laughing smile. Seth lowered a giggling Ellen to the floor and she scampered back out into the main room.

"Good evening." Nora greeted as he kissed her gently, taking her hand in his.

"Come on." He said, taking her by surprise and leading her into the main room. He let go her hand and reached for her cloak, draping it over her shoulders.

"Where are we going?"

"Oh, oh its here!" Samuel jumped up from the table, Mason following.

"It's here! Mom's p—"

"Boys." Seth warned lightly, the twins immediately falling silent under their father's gaze.

"What's going on?" Nora looked from the excited smiles on the boy's faces, who apart from their eyes resembled their father in every way, then back to Seth whose stoic face betrayed only a hint of a smile. "Seth?"

"Out on the porch." He placed a guiding hand on her waist as they stepped out into the cold, daylight's last rays splashing on the snow covered camp. "Your Christmas present has arrived a day early, but we'll let you open it tonight." The children had rushed onto the porch, clamoring for a view of their mother's face.

Nora looked out over the camp curiously, wondering just what Seth meant. The only thing of interest was a wagon laden with a big box shaped item being guided by two horses and several men. But that couldn't possibly be it.

"You see it…on back of that wagon?" Mason asked excitedly.

"I see the wagon…but surely…what can that possibly be?" The faint cries of the wagon men floated up their ears as the wagon bumped over a rock in the road, followed by plinks of various pitches and tones. Nora's mouth fell slightly open. "A piano?" She turned to Seth who merely smiled.

"Merry Christmas," he said warmly, placing a hand on her lower back, "children why don't you go inside where it's warmer. Wouldn't want you sick on Christmas."

"Merry Christmas mommy." Ellen smiled as she ducked inside before Mason closed the door. Seth stepped closer, kissing her cheek.

"Ever since you told me it was music you missed the most, I have wanted to bring it back to you." She turned her head, her cold nose brushing his.

"I love you so much." She whispered kissing him in the shadow of their porch. "The children knew?"

"I told them, yes. But as much as they wanted to tell you, they wanted it to be a big surprise."

"Well it certainly is, and a great surprise at that. And speaking of surprises," she took his other hand, placing it against her slightly swelling stomach, "I hope you're not through being a father." He looked back in surprise. "Went to Cochran this morning. I'm due in September." He shifted his hands around to bring her in for a close hug.

"I think we're going to need a bigger house."

the end.

well that's the end. thank you so much to everyone who read!