The next two weeks went by quickly and soon enough it was almost the end of October. The days were still somewhat mild but the cooler mornings and evenings indicated that Fall had definitely arrived. Jacket season was here. The Fall foliage in the area was beautiful as always and Elizabeth wished she could one day do a foliage tour upstate where the colorful leaves were much more apparent. But that just didn't seem like a very toddler friendly excursion so Elizabeth continued to dream about it instead.

Nathan and Elizabeth had now been dating for just over two months and they couldn't be happier. The happy couple was planning to have dinner with Nathan's parents, Archie and Carole, a couple days before Halloween. Then the Halloween plan was to join the Coulters for organized trick or treating in the neighborhood while Allie attended a party with her friends. Soon enough it was October 29 and Elizabeth found herself stressed out while figuring out what to wear to dinner with the Grants. Dinner would be at Nathan's house so Elizabeth was grateful that her love had thought of a way to make the meeting as comfortable as possible since everyone was now familiar with Nathan's house.

Elizabeth stared at the various outfits now scattered on her bed. She wished that Rosemary could come over to help but she was busy at tech rehearsals for the new show. And Faith was working a long shift at the hospital.

"Get a grip on yourself. It's not as if you haven't met a man's parents before." Elizabeth scolded herself. She laughed and remembered when she first met Jack's mom, Charlotte. Elizabeth had been so intimidated by how blunt and overly confident Charlotte was. Charlotte even called her "Lizzie" and to this day still called her that. Over time, Elizabeth and Charlotte had bonded over their mutual love for Jack. It especially came to a head after Jack fell ill with pneumonia following a grueling outdoor Winter case. Jack had spent a week in the hospital with both Elizabeth and Charlotte by his side. Since then, the women had remained close. Charlotte had been a bit distant after Jack's death but the birth of her grandson had brought her and Elizabeth closer again. She knew that Elizabeth was now seeing Nathan but had no idea of how serious things were for the couple. Elizabeth didn't see a need to share anything else about Nathan with Charlotte until she was certain they'd be sharing their future together.

"Ok Elizabeth, you're a grown woman dining with other adults and two children. And it's Nathan's house so there will be no formalities." Elizabeth continued to advise herself.

She sifted through the clothes pile once more and settled on her favorite dark jeans, a light blue v-neck blouse with a ruffled waistline, and a camel colored leather moto jacket. Matching camel suede flat booties completed the look. It was casual with a slight err of formality too. Elizabeth figured that Nathan and Allie would also be wearing jeans so she wouldn't feel out of place. Once Elizabeth was dressed and satisfied with her hair and makeup, she woke Jack from his late afternoon nap and dressed him in dark jeans and a navy blue sweater.

"Jack, we are going to meet Nathan's Mommy and Daddy today. So you need to be on your best behavior, ok?"

"Ok Mama," Jack said with a giggle.

Elizabeth quickly showered her son's face with kisses until the little boy had had enough and started pushing her away. Elizabeth pretended to be offended and then laughed along with her son. She cherished these precious moments alone with Little Jack and no matter what happened with Nathan, she never wanted to lose these precious times.

"Ok buddy, it's time to go to Nathan's house."

Little Jack squealed with glee. Elizabeth chuckled and proceeded to put light jackets on herself and Jack. Then they headed out to the car with Elizabeth's usual plethora of toddler items and gifts. Fifteen minutes later she pulled into Nathan's driveway with a very excited little boy in the backseat.

As soon as Elizabeth turned off the ignition, Nathan was at her door smiling through the window. She quickly unlocked the doors so Nathan could open hers.

"Hello Beautiful, I've missed you."

"Hello yourself, Handsome. I just saw you two days ago."

They leaned in quickly to give each other a kiss and then Elizabeth quickly scanned Nathan. As expected, he was wearing dark jeans, the type he would normally wear to work. Tonight, he had them paired with a burgundy plaid button down shirt and his brown suede oxfords. Elizabeth was glad she decided on jeans for herself and Jack.

"Sweetheart, you must be freezing. You didn't have to come outside to greet us." Elizabeth said as she grabbed Nathan's hand and led him around to the right side of the vehicle to retrieve Little Jack.

"I'm not freezing at all and I absolutely did have to come outside and greet you. Hey Buddy!" Nathan said as he leaned into the car to remove Jack from his carseat. He had the happy little boy in his arms within seconds.

Elizabeth gave Nathan a look. "If you say so, Nathan. I just don't want you to catch a cold."

Nathan gave her his crooked smile and asked: "And what exactly would happen if I did catch a cold? Would a kind Professor take pity on me and take care of me?"

Elizabeth looked up at Nathan from under her eyelashes and winked at him. Then she walked around to the trunk to retrieve the items she had brought. Nathan followed her and grabbed Jack's booster seat for the table with his unoccupied hand.

"Lizbeth, I hate that you keep having to haul his stuff back and forth. Maybe I should get a booster seat too?"

"Actually Nathan, I could just leave this one here. I was quite spoiled at my baby shower and the booster seat was one of the duplicate items I was told to hold onto because I'd inevitably be traveling around with it as well as using it at home."

"Ok then. We settled that easily." Nathan said with a smile. The threesome walked inside Nathan's house and were promptly greeted by Allie.

"Hi Jack! Hi Miss Elizabeth! Here, let me help you with those bags."

"Thanks Allie! I baked a chocolate cake and some chocolate chip cookies for dessert. They are inside the containers in this tote bag. Why don't you put them in the kitchen?"

"Sure thing!"

"Thank you Allie."

Elizabeth placed her handbag and Jack's diaper bag inside Nathan's front closet. She then took Jack's coat off while Nathan continued to hold him and then took off her own coat and hung them both up in the closet.

Nathan looked at her in awe and then bent down for another quick kiss.

"What's wrong, Nathan?"

"Nothing my love. I'm just always in awe of how easy you make things look when it comes to going out with this little guy." said Nathan as he tickled Jack's stomach. Both Jack and Elizabeth laughed.

"It's just a trick of the trade." Elizabeth said with a smile.

"Nate honey, is that you?" a female voice called up the stairs from the den.

"Yes Mom, Elizabeth and Jack are here. Why don't you and Dad come on up?"

"We will be up in a minute."

"Nate?" asked Elizabeth.

"When I was born, Colleen was only two so she couldn't quite pronounce Nathan so she always called me Nate. After a while, it just stuck but Mom and Dad are the only ones who still use it."

"I don't think I will ever get tired of learning new things about you, Nathan Grant."

"I'll just have to make sure there are always new things for you to learn and you'll have to do the same for me."

Nathan, Elizabeth, and Jack joined Allie in the kitchen so that they could easily greet Nathan's parents once they came up from the den. Soon enough, a tall woman who looked to be in her early sixties climbed the stairs followed by a balding man who appeared to be in his late sixties or early seventies.

Elizabeth suddenly felt nervous again but was quickly relieved as she felt Nathan's arm go around her shoulders.

The older couple looked at their son standing with his arm around a woman and then looked at the babbling toddler in his arms. Nathan's mom looked like she had tears in her eyes.

"Mom, Dad, I'd like you to meet Elizabeth Thatcher Thornton and her son Jack."

Nathan gently squeezed Elizabeth's shoulder somehow sensing that she was nervous.

"Elizabeth, these are my parents. Archie and Carole Mayes Grant."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Grant. Nathan and Allie have told me so many things about you both. Jack, say hello!"

"Hello"

"Well, aren't you adorable?" Carole Grant walked up to Jack and smiled at him. She then turned to Elizabeth and promptly pulled her into a hug as Nathan's arm dropped.

"Elizabeth, you're even more beautiful than my son described. It's so nice to finally meet you and Jack."

"Likewise, Mrs. Grant."

Carole Grant pulled back from the hug and looked Elizabeth in the eyes. Elizabeth was grateful that Nathan hadn't left her side.

"Now let's get something straight. If we are having a family dinner together, then we need to drop the formalities. Carole Mayes or Carole Grant are for people I don't know. Please call me Carole."

"And please call me Archie." Nathan's dad echoed from behind Carole.

"Ok Carole and Archie it is! Wait, did you say your name was Carole Mayes?"

Elizabeth watched in awe as Nathan's mom took on a sheepish grin. "Guilty, I'm afraid."

She looked from Carole to Nathan and then back to Carole again. "You're Carole Mayes the mystery writer?"

"Guilty again," nodded Carole.

"Oh my goodness! I love your books. I've read most of them."

Carole smiled shyly and looked down at her feet. She seemed to handle compliments as well as her son.

"I'm sorry if I've made you feel uncomfortable. I'm a big fan of your work but I won't mention it again. Nathan told me you were a writer but I had no idea you were Carole Mayes."

"Elizabeth, I'm the one who should be sorry. My son has been well trained not to tell people about me in advance and I don't spend as much time as I should with my fans in person so I'm just not used to being recognized." Carole smiled and then gave a stunned Elizabeth another hug. "And from what Nate tells me, you've had your turn at fame as well so I look forward to hearing more about that at dinner."

"And I'm sorry too Elizabeth. Mom is right. She has trained me not to say anything about who she is before she meets new people and quite honestly, she's just Mom to me." Nathan said while giving Carole a smile. "Of course I read all her books and I actually even proofread them before they are published. But that is usually the extent of what we discuss together."

Nathan leaned over to give Elizabeth a quick kiss. They were interrupted by Jack leaning over from Nathan's arms and giving Elizabeth a kiss on the cheek. "I don't want you to think I was purposely keeping anything from you."

"I understand Nathan. I'm just happy to know the truth now." smiled Elizabeth.

Carole and Archie quietly watched the exchange as well as how Nathan interacted with Little Jack. The little boy was enamored with Nathan and vice versa. Carole started to tear up so Archie put his arm around her. Both were happy to see their son with someone who clearly cared for him a great deal. Meanwhile, Allie had walked over to the stove to check on the dinner that she and Nathan had been preparing together.

"Dinner is ready! Shall we move to the dining room?" Allie asked.

"Yes. I think that's a good idea." said Nathan. He led Elizabeth and Jack into the dining room while Archie and Carole followed. Nathan quickly grabbed Jack's booster seat and set him up on the chair between Elizabeth and Allie. He then went back to the kitchen to help Allie bring the serving dishes to the table. Dinner was a savory beef brisket, corn casserole, asparagus, and glazed carrots. Nathan also poured a glass of Merlot for each of the adults and a glass of apple cider for each of the kids. He then sat on the other side of Elizabeth. After joining hands, Archie said a quick prayer and everyone started to enjoy their dinner.

Carole was very forthcoming about her writing career during the meal. She had started out as a teacher and then quit once Colleen was born. The writing had started as a hobby while Colleen and Nathan were young. She had initially written short five hundred word short mystery stories that a local magazine started to purchase from her for monthly publication. That provided the young family with extra income in addition to Archie's bank manager job. Eventually, a literary agent reached out and the rest was history. Carole had fifteen mystery novels under her belt with the sixteenth still in progress.

The Grants kept a small condo in Naples, Florida so that Carole could write at the beach. She found it to be a huge source of inspiration and many of her books were set in tropical locations. Now that Archie was fully retired, they split their time between New York and Florida. The Grants also enjoyed getting to know Elizabeth and Little Jack better during dinner. In fact, they were planning to attend Elizabeth and Allie's upcoming show in December. They enjoyed learning about Elizabeth's performing and teaching careers as well.

Since Nathan and Allie had cooked, Elizabeth offered to help Carole clean up and serve dessert. Nathan and Archie took the kids downstairs to play while the women were in the kitchen.

Once the dishes were finished and put away, Carole faced Elizabeth and took her hands in her own. "Elizabeth, I hope you don't think this is too forward. I'm so glad that Nate arranged this dinner for all of us. Our family has been through some rough times with Archie's gambling and Colleen's death. Archie and I were separated for a long time and Colleen's death actually brought us back together. I know you lost your husband prematurely and my sincere condolences to you. But it's clear to me that you have strong feelings for my son and granddaughter and they for you. I hope that you and Nathan can continue to forge a healing path forward together. That's what Archie and I did and it's been one of the best decisions of my life. I've never seen my Nate this happy before and that makes me happy."

"Thank you Carole. That's what I want too. I love Nathan and Allie with all my heart and when the time is right for all of us, I want to move forward together. Having dinner here tonight, I kind of feel like I'm already part of the family."

"You are, Sweetheart. And don't worry too much about the time being right because there is never a perfect time. Choose love and then you'll feel it. Everything will fall into place as is meant to be."

The two women looked at one another with tears in their eyes and embraced once again.