A soft, gentle breeze danced across the beautiful golden meadow and the warm, yellow sun kissed his skin as it began to set. Tall grasses swayed to and fro, bending gentle under his calloused hands as they skimmed the tops of the sea of green. Church bells rang out in the distance, calling out the beginning of a new hour, a gentle reminder that evening had begun. A peaceful smile danced across his face at the sight of his beautiful wife. Her auburn hair, nearly a fiery red if the sun caught it just so, bounced on her shoulders as she chased a cackling toddler with soft, golden curls around the wrap around porch. She was smiling brightly, laughing in tandem with the child's playful screams. He watched her for a moment, a sense of well earned peace flooding all his senses.

"Madeline Elizabeth Coulter! Just what do you think you are doing?" Rosemary's stage voice, as Lee called it, rang out as the woman stepped out onto the porch to catch her daughter mid sprint.

A casual onlooker would assume the child was in trouble, but Jack knew better.

"Is Auntie Liz chasing you?"

"I couldn't help it," Elizabeth answered with all the seriousness she afforded when addressing her classroom, "she's much too adorable for her own good, Rosemary. I just had to pick her up and give her a hug."

Rosemary's eyes widened comically as her daughter smiled once more at her aunt's words, "is that right?"

Elizabeth's quick nod was her only reply.

"Well in that case, I say she's due for a cuddle and a kiss, don't you, Auntie Liz?"

"Iss! Iss!" Madeline squealed happily as Rosemary set her daughter back onto the porch, her stubby little legs already taking off for the other end of the porch as Rosemary chased after her. But she didn't get far before Lee had stepped out onto the porch and grabbed them both. A warm, rumbling laugh settled in his chest and seeped deep into his bones as he took in the sight.

A calming sensation passed over his bare arms, his sleeves rolled up in response to the unusual heat so late in the day. It spread from his arms to his chest before creeping up to his face, like the sun heating his skin as it peaked out from behind the clouds. A welcome warmth that settled deep under his skin and into his soul. Jack turned his head back to… yes, she was watching him.

Elizabeth's gaze was steady as she observed her husband, forcing a quiet blush to creep up his neck and cheeks. It didn't matter how long they had known each other, how long they had loved one another… her gaze would always make him blush. A secret smile, polite and ladylike to a simple onlooker, danced across her lush, rosy lips. But Jack knew better. He understood the definition of every tilt and twist of her lips, knew what every twinkle and spark in her eye added up to: Elizabeth was utterly and incandescently happy.

Jack didn't know if it was purposeful or not when Elizabeth raised her left hand, glittering with her engagement ring and wedding band, to her stomach. It was quickly becoming a habit of hers since she'd confided in him her suspicions. And every time he caught the instinctive action, every time she caught him watching her, a smile would break out on both their faces.

"Papa! Papa!" A sharp, excited voice broke through the silence surrounding the peaceful, country home.

Jack turned his gaze from Elizabeth to see a young boy, no older than five, sprinting from the workshop and through shimmering golden meadow. A shock of chestnut brown hair, tapered close on the sides and gradually growing longer on the top, covered his head. A dazzling gapped tooth grin and deep cut dimples graced his rounded face. Brilliant blue eyes, eyes like his mother, were wide and bright and beautiful as they locked onto Jack.

Without fear or hesitation, the boy leapt into Jack's arms as his father lifted him up to rest against his side. Jack's smile grew wider, nearly splitting his cheeks.

"And just what do you think you're doing, pal?" Jack asked as Thatcher giggled. He wrapped his short, spindly arms around Jack's neck, pulling his father closer. Jack held the boy tightly, placing a gentle kiss to the side of his head while taking in the scent of his hair and clothes and skin.

"Mama told me to come and get you," the boy's voice was soft and sweet, if a little winded, "she said that Auntie Rosie said.. said that dinner is ready and… and…"

"Take a breath, Thatch," Jack couldn't help the chuckle that passed his lips. His son had a tendency to talk quickly, winding himself in the process. Too much time with Auntie Rosie. Thatcher took a ridiculously large breath in and Jack's smile grew.

Thatcher nodded vigorously before continuing, " And Uncle Tom and Auntie Julie will be here soon!"

"Well then we best not keep anyone waiting!"

And suddenly Thatcher was wriggling, desperate to get out of his father's arms and race back up to the welcome chaos inside the house. But Jack just pulled him in closer, his scruffy cheeks tickling his son's neck. Thatcher giggled as he shouted, "Papa, put me down!"

"Alright, alright, mon lionceau. But only if you give me one more hug."

Thatcher rolled his eyes playfully before wrapping his arms around Jack's neck once more and squeezed his father in a quick hug, "I love you, Papa," he whispered.

"I love you too, Thatcher," Jack whispered back as he placed another kiss to the boy's temple,"I love you so."

The boy pulled away from Jack's chest and placed a tiny, stubby hand on either side of Jack's strong jaw and chiseled cheeks. An eternity passed between them as hazel and sapphire eyes gazed at one another.

"I'm so glad you're my papa and not someone else's."

The pure truth of his son's words cut Jack to the quick. Tears welled in his eyes as he took in the sight of his little boy, growing so fast, "Me too, Thatcher. I'm so glad God gave you to me."

Elizabeth Thornton looked out in awe at the view in front of her. Her husband and son walked leisurely up the path from the field to the front porch, talking animatedly to one another. She caught the warm, practiced rumble of Jack's laughter as Thatcher made a joke that all four-year-olds make… one that was neither funny nor clever but all parents were required to laugh along. Jack seemed to revel in every chance he had to do it.

Elizabeth took in the pleasant hum of cicadas in the background, the gentle breeze that fluttered through her russet hair as she unconsciously rubbed her still flat stomach. Already a picture was forming in her mind of what her next child would be. A little girl, she thought, with beautiful hazel eyes and dimples like her father and her brother. A soft chuckle escaped as Elizabeth imagined how Thatcher would react once it was safe to tell him. He would, without a doubt, be the proudest and most annoyingly protective big brother in the world if his behavior with little Madeline was anything to go by.

"What, pray tell, is so funny, Mrs. Thornton?"

Her husband's voice gently pulled Elizabeth from her daydream back to the wonderful, hard fought reality lay before her. A gentle smile graced her lips.

"It was my joke, wasn't it, Mama?"

Elizabeth's smile widened as she reached for her son, his strong, sturdy frame, but still so small in her embrace, "It was hilarious, sweetheart."

Thatcher's dimples deepened as his mother hugged him tight and kissed his cheek. Until it all became too much for the energetic four-year-old. He began to squirm in an attempt to wriggle out of his mother's arms, "Mama… I wanna go see what Auntie Rosie is doing."

"Okay! Okay," Elizabeth chided him playfully while sneaking in one final kiss to top of his head, "go find Auntie Rosie!"

Thatcher ran into the house without a second thought.

"I would never have thought that I'd have to compete with Rosemary again for the affections of a Jack Thornton."

Elizabeth hummed pleasantly as Captain Jack Thornton, her husband, the father of her children… children… her best friend and love of her life, wrapped his strong, sumptuous arms around her and pulled her tight against the hard planes of his chest. She placed her hands over his, resting just above her belly.

"I know for a fact that there is one Jack Thornton whose affections you will never have to compete for," Jack said as he placed a soft, teasing kiss to the underside of her jaw, right over the hidden, thin scar she'd acquired a little over three years ago.

Elizabeth let her head fall back against his shoulder, fully healed without any further trouble (save for the slight ache he had whenever it rained).

"Do you promise," she whispered.

Without missing a beat, Jack picked up her left hand with his, holding them up until each of their wedding rings caught in the golden glow of the setting sun. After a moment, Jack pulled Elizabeth's hand to his lips and placed a loving kiss across her knuckles.

"Seems I already did, darlin'."

A pleasant hum vibrated in Elizabeth's chest as she turned to plant a kiss on her husband's lips.

"Cut it out, you t-two!"

The couple slowly pulled away, laughing with one another at Tom's teasing.

Jack tore his gaze from his wife to watch his little brother walk up the final stretch of the path..

"I call bull," Jack shouted out at him, "there's no way you can see that far!"

" .Ha!"

Jack smiled brightly, his dimples cutting deep into his cheeks as he released Elizabeth from his grasp and ran down to meet his brother and sister-in-law.

"He can now," Julie declared proudly, "that eye doctor in Toronto did wonders, Jack. Best pair of glasses money can buy."

"That's wonderful!"

"With my eyezz s-ssorted, I can finally get back to field work."

"Well thank goodness for that," Jack ribbed his brother playfully, "now you won't be underfoot around the house anymore."

Julie smiled brightly, her hand tightly gripping Tom's, "I think I was more underfoot than Tom was."

Tom smiled brighter still at the thought of going back to work full time. Ever since his injury and surgery three years ago, recovery had been hard and slow. He still had a stammer (a common long term effect of a brain bleed, Dr. Shepherd had told him). His vision was now distorted and muddled (another long term effect, he'd been informed) but his new glasses were helping a great deal.

He'd tried to call off his and Julie's wedding more times then he could count, had tried to push her away but to no avail….

"Thatcher women are stubborn and damn near impossible to convince they're wrong," Jack had once told him, "and more often than not it's because they're right."

"Do y-y-ou… honestly want your s-sister to be married to ss-s-someone like me?," he'd asked Elizabeth.

"I want my sister to marry a good, honest, and brave man. One who would do anything and everything to keep her safe and help her to be the best version of herself she can be. You've done that from the very beginning, Tom… who else would I ever let marry my little sister?"

"I promised to stand by you in sickness and in health," Julie declared with a steely resolve.

"Y-you haven't p-prom-issed that yet," Tom countered, "I would… underst-sstand,"

"The moment you asked me to marry you, Thomas Thornton, I promised that. Don't insult me by thinking anything that has happened has changed my mind or my heart."

"Julie,"

"So I'm sorry, but the only way for you to get out of marrying me is leaving me standing there at the altar by myself."

"I'm jus-st happy to feel like my-s-self again."

"You've always been yourself," Jack declared with a firm hand on his brother's shoulder, forcing Tom to look at him, "you've always been you."

Tom gave a quick, accepting nod.

"Come on you three," Elizabeth gentle, motherly voice called out, "it's time for dinner. Rosemary cooked!"

"Oh thank God," Julie muttered under her breath.

Jack and Tom both chuckled.

"I love her, and she's gotten much better," Julie tried to explain, "but cooking is not my sister's gift."

Jack laughed heartily as he watched the couple walk up the three steps leading up to the wrap around porch. He watched as Julie immediately went to Elizabeth's side and pulled her sister into a fierce, loving hug. He watched as Thatcher and Madeline came running out to great Uncle Tom and Auntie Julie.

Jack Thornton watched in wonder and gratitude and sheer disbelief as his family scurried about in the house he'd designed for "the whole Thornton clan."

"Come on, Captain Thornton," Elizabeth called to him, her hand stretched out for him to take, "take a walk with me."

Jack smiled, full and bright and happy, as Elizabeth gave him a breathtaking grin while tangling their fingers together, "Always, Mrs. Thornton."

the end.


I cannot believe we've finally come to the end. Thank you all for going on this journey with me. Thank you for the encouragement and for sharing your excitement as you discovered this story and for sticking with it throughout random updates and radio silences that lasted far too long. I hope I've done the end of this justice, and I hope this story has only made your love for this fandom and its characters grow... I know it has for me.