After getting Nathan a mug of coffee, Elizabeth sat down on the settee. Though Ally was still clinging tightly to Nathan, her sobbing had subsided. Looking over at Billy who stood off to the side of the room, appearing scared and worried, Elizabeth patted the cushion next to her. Billy hesitated and then slowly he came over to the settee. Climbing up on the settee, Billy sat beside her, though there were several inches of empty cushion between them. However, the boy did reach out for her hand which Elizabeth gladly let him take.

"Gabriel will be in soon," Elizabeth assured Billy, though she wondered if the words were as much for the child as they were for her husband.

Though Nathan was still speaking soft words of comfort to Ally in between sips of his coffee, Elizabeth was well aware that Nathan was keeping a close eye on the clock above the mantle place. If Gabriel wasn't back in a reasonable amount of time, she knew Nathan would put his heavy jacket back on and head back outside to make sure Gabriel was okay. Elizabeth hoped that wouldn't be necessary for all of their sakes.

Before long, the front door opened, letting in a gush of icy air. Billy was immediately on his feet and hurrying toward Gabriel.

"Everything is okay, Billy," came Gabriel's reassurance from the foyer.

It wasn't long before Gabriel and taken off his outer gear and was coming into the sitting room, Billy at his side.

"I'm glad you stopped in for the rope," Gabriel told Nathan as he handed the latter back the hand gun. "It's white out conditions out there now."

"I just hope Bill warned everyone in his area and got back safely himself," Nathan commented.

"I'm sure Bill is fine," Gabriel said. "If he couldn't make it back into town, Bill is smart enough to have found shelter."

"You are right," Nathan said.

"I took care of Newton and made sure the other animals had food so there won't be a rush to get to them in the morning. I even milked the cow again. I left the pail out in the barn covered though. I didn't think there would be much left in it by the time I got inside if I had tried to bring it with me with that wind but I didn't want the cow to be to uncomfortable come the morning."

The cow had been Ally's agricultural project for school last fall. All the students had paired up and chosen a project to learn about some aspect of farm life. Ally and Opal had decided to learn about taking care of a dairy cow. As the Weisse's had no place to keep the cow, Colleen, as Ally had named her, had become a resident at the Grant home. Even now that the project was over, Ally enjoyed caring for the cow and Elizabeth found the fresh milk a nice perk.

"Thank-you," Nathan replied, with a nod. "I'm just glad you and Billy were already here."

"Me too," Gabriel replied.

"I think it is time that we get Billy and Ally both back to bed," Elizabeth said.

"I think we should all call it a night," Nathan said, "Who knows what tomorrow will be like though I do know a certain schoolteacher will be taking advantage of the extended weekend and stay off her feet some."

"I do have grading I could catch up on," Elizabeth consented, though part of her wanted to rebel against the advice. However, she had a feeling taking things easy tomorrow would probably be good for her.

"Will you come tuck me in, Dad?" Ally asked sleepily, turning her tear streaked face up at him.

"I will," Nathan told her.

"I'll take care of banking the fire," Gabriel told them. "The three of you can head upstairs."

"Thank-you," Nathan replied setting the coffee mug on a nearby small table. Lifting Ally in his arms, he got to his feet,

Elizabeth looked to the boy still standing next to Gabriel. "Could I tuck you into bed, Billy?" she asked. "Gabriel will be up shortly."

Billy looked up at Gabriel. "Go ahead," Gabriel told him, with a nod. "I'll be up soon."

Having gotten to her feet, Elizabeth held her hand out to the boy. Billy hesitated, but finally he let go of Gabriel's hand and reached for Elizabeth's. Elizabeth held her hand steady, letting Billy be the one to take her hand, while smiling at the boy. Once his hand was firmly grasping her own, Elizabeth started following Nathan upstairs.

While Nathan carried Ally to her room, Elizabeth led Billy into the spare room. The boy went to the cot and climbed in under the blankets. Reaching down, Elizabeth pulled the blankets up, tucking them around Billy.

"Mrs. Grant, can I ask you a personal question?" the boy asked quietly.

"Of course," Elizabeth replied. Retrieving the chair by the desk in the room, Elizabeth brought it over and sat down beside the cot. "What would you like to know, Billy?"

"You said that you loss your first husband?"

Elizabeth nodded, images of Jack coming to her mind.

"What did he do?"

"Jack was a Mountie," Elizabeth replied, wondering where the boy was going with the questioning but feeling it was important to let him ask his questions.

"Jack? Is he Little Jack's birth father?"

Elizabeth nodded.

"My Dad was a Mountie. He went to the Northern Territories and died up there."

Elizabeth nodded. She had heard about how Billy's parents had died. "I heard that. I'm sorry. Jack served up in the Northern Territories but he came back. He was killed in a training accident after that," Elizabeth replied, fighting to keep her voice steady. As hard as it was to talk about Jack at times still, something in her told her that this conversation with Billy was important.

"Is Little Jack the reason you kept going after your husband died?"

Elizabeth shook her head. "I didn't even know I was pregnant when another Mountie came to tell me about Jack's death. Little Jack never met his father."

"Then what kept you going?" Billy asked, tears glistening in his eyes. "When my Mom heard about my dad, she left me with the Mountie who came, and didn't come back. The Mountie was nice. He sat down at the table and drew with me while we waited. I figured Mom didn't want me to see her cry. She always tried not to cry in front of me, but I knew she cried sometimes at night while Dad was away. I heard her. However, she didn't come back. People said she killed herself because she couldn't go on without my Dad. What I don't understand is why she couldn't go on so I wasn't alone. Miss Maggie said it wasn't because she didn't love me. You loss someone you loved like she did, Mrs. Grant. Do you know why she couldn't go on?"

Elizabeth felt her breath catch. She knew she had to give the boy some kind of answer but she wasn't sure what she could say to him. She certainly couldn't understand how Billy's mother hadn't been able to go on when she had a son already. Yes, Jack's death had devastated her. At first, she wasn't sure how she could go on. If Abigail hadn't been there to hold her in those first moments, Elizabeth wasn't sure what she would have done. Elizabeth had a feeling she would have stayed in the middle of the road for much longer than she had. It had been Abigail who had gotten her to her feet and had walked her to the café. Abigail, who had lost her husband and child with so many others in the mine, had stayed with her those first few days. She had been lost in her grief for a while. She could still remember her failed attempt at going back to teaching and her thoughts of leaving Hope Valley. It had been the realization that she was pregnant that had brought a spark of life back to her.

"Billy, I have no doubt that your mother loved you very much. I don't know why she did what she did. Just like I could never explain to Ally how her father could simply leave after her mother's death. Everyone deals with things differently and some simply never are able to deal with things. However, I do understand the grief that she felt when she got the news about your father. In a way, I shut down after I heard my husband wasn't coming back. I had a good friend, who had been through what I was going through, that was by my side. If she hadn't been, perhaps I would have thought there was no reason to go on. However, my friends, family and even my students, kept showing me that there was still reasons to live."

"So, if my Mom had family or a close friend with her when she got the news about my Dad then things may have been different?" Billy asked.

"Yes, that is a very likely possibility," Elizabeth told him.

Billy nodded. "Can I share something with you, Mrs. Grant?"

"Of course, Billy."

"I heard some people in Brookfield talking about how it wasn't fair to me for Gabe to take me in because he was a Mountie like my dad, and my dad died in the line of duty. They said there was too much of a risk that something would happen to Gabe as well. My mother wasn't a Mountie and she died. I haven't met one other kid in an orphanage who was the child of a Mountie, yet they lost their parents as well. Ally said she has been with Constable Grant since she was four that is almost ten years, and he is a Mountie. Just because someone isn't, a Mountie doesn't mean that something bad will not happen to them. Gabe is kind to me and he makes me feel safe. Maybe one day he'll love me like a son. I think I might be starting to love him like a second dad, and it is okay to have two dads, like your son."

"It is perfectly fine," Elizabeth agreed. "If there is a time when you feel like that about Gabriel that does not change the love you have for your parents. Just like Ally's love for me doesn't change the love she had for her mother."

"Then why isn't it fair to me that Gabe took me in?"

"It is perfectly fair," Elizabeth assured him. "The people who said that just don't understand the situation. I heard some people whisper about my choice to marry Constable Grant after losing Jack like I did. I even wondered myself if it was worth taking the chance of letting myself love him and lose him like I did Jack. But like you said Billy, not being a Mountie doesn't mean you're safe. Other women have lost men they love through accidents and illness. Men lose women they love. Loss is a hard part of life, but it is one we have to deal with. The best thing you can do is simply cherish the days we have with those we love."

Billy reached up and wiped a few stray tears away and then sat up in bed. He wrapped his arms around Elizabeth. As he did so, Elizabeth felt the tears she had been holding back start to fall as she wrapped her arms around the small boy.

"Thank-you for listening and sharing, Mrs. Grant," Billy told her.

"It was my pleasure, Billy," Elizabeth told him with a shaky voice as she held him tight.

Elizabeth held Billy until the boy pulled away. As he laid back down, she tucked the blankets back up around him. She then leaned forward and placed a kiss on Billy's forehead before getting to her feet.

"Mrs. Grant, do you know Miss Walsh?" Billy asked as Elizabeth put the chair back under the desk.

"I do," Elizabeth replied, wondering where the child was going with the question.

"Even though she runs an orphanage, do you think she could love me?" Billy asked.

Elizabeth felt her heart clench again. To think a child, an orphan, would think that someone couldn't love a child because they ran an orphanage told her what kind of experiences Billy had in those he had been in, and it tore at her heart.

"Miss Walsh and Miss Bennett love every child that they take in, just like I love every child that I teach," Elizabeth told him. "For us, what we do, isn't a job it is a calling and though you might not understand this yet, that makes a big difference in how you approach a job. If you open yourself up to Miss Walsh like you have me Billy, you will find that she is quite capable of loving you."

"Do you love me?" Billy asked.

Elizabeth smiled. "I may not have known you long, Billy, but yes I love you. Gabriel loves you as well. Never doubt that, Billy."

Billy nodded and told her goodnight. Saying goodnight, Elizabeth left the room, leaving the door open partially.

Alone in the hallway, Elizabeth felt the tears come, not just for Billy but because of her own old emotions of loss resurfacing. Like Billy, she had lost someone she loved, but she had been better equipped to understand and deal with that loss. She had also had people around her to help her through the struggles that followed. That kid had been struggling on his own, with no one there to comfort and help him grieve.

Coming upstairs, Gabriel found her in the hallway, crying.

"What's wrong?" Gabriel asked, as he reached out and pulled her into a comforting hug.

Taking comfort from Gabriel's strong arms around her, Elizabeth took a couple of calming breaths to get her emotions under control before replying.

"I just had a heart to heart with, Billy. I am so glad you took him in Gabriel. That boy needs someone to love him. He needs to be a part of a family. I'm thankful he is going to be a part of yours, which makes him a part of my extended family as well."

Gabriel patted Elizabeth's back as he held her. "This might sound silly, but somehow I knew the moment that boy bit me that he needed me. It wasn't just physical starvation he was experiencing, but emotional as well. However, he hadn't had love from another human being for so long he didn't know how to communicate that need."

"That doesn't sound silly, at all," Elizabeth said, feeling calmer now. "I'm glad he found his way to Brookfield and to you."

"So am I, Elizabeth," Gabriel assured her. "So am I."

As Elizabeth pulled away, Gabriel let her go.

"Are you okay?" Gabriel asked her.

Elizabeth nodded. "Yes," she told him. "No offense, but right now I just want to fall asleep in my husband's arms."

"That is perfectly understandable," Gabriel replied with a smile. "Good night, Elizabeth."

"Good night," Elizabeth told him, stepping away as Gabriel stepped into the room she had just left.

Walking over to Ally's room, she peered in. The room was dark and Ally was under the blankets, eyes closed. Stepping into the room, Elizabeth made her way to the bed. Leaning over, she placed a kiss on her daughter's forehead, still able to remember the closed off, frightened girl who was trying to act brave that first came to Hope Valley. Helping Ally to let people other than her uncle into her world, had shown Elizabeth that she was doing the same thing as Ally had been doing. Despite Jack's letter telling her that he wanted her to open her heart and find love again, Elizabeth had been doing just the opposite. She had been focusing on her son and teaching so that she wouldn't have to think about finding that kind of love again. She had told Clara that you couldn't live your life on what-ifs. Those words applied to her as well. She couldn't worry about what might happen to Nathan, like Ally, she simply had to love him and enjoy the time she did have with him even if that meant prayers and worries while he was gone.

Ally's eyes fluttered briefly but didn't open, and Elizabeth moved silently from the room. Walking down the hall, she reached the room she shared with Nathan. Her husband had changed into his pajamas and was hanging up his uniform. Closing the door behind her, which gained Nathan's attention, she crossed over to him. One look at her and Nathan put aside the serge and opened his arms to her.

"Have I ever thanked you for just being patient with me while my heart finished healing?" Elizabeth asked as Nathan's arms settled around her. The only thing between them was the baby that their love had created.

"Not in words, but your love has shown me," Nathan told her.

"Well, I'm saying it now," Elizabeth told him, looking up at him. "Thank-you Nathan Grant, for being patient, caring, and a friend to lean on until my heart was ready to love again. You never used flattering words or pretend dates to get my attention. You were simply there. Someone to talk to. Someone who made me feel safe. You and Ally both helped my heart to heal so that I could enjoy the love of having whole family once again."

"The helping to heal part goes both ways, Elizabeth," Nathan told her. "Losing Colleen affected me more than I know and it wasn't until I came to Hope Valley that my heart started to heal from that loss."

"I guess we were both just destined to find one another when the time was right," Elizabeth said. "Just like Bridget and Ivy found their way to Lee and Rosemary and Billy found his way to Gabriel."

"I found you and I don't plan on letting you go any time soon," Nathan told her. "I'm looking forward to raising our children together. All of our children, no matter how they came into our lives."

Nathan pressed his lips against hers and Elizabeth returned the gesture. It wasn't a hungry, wild kiss like those in romance novels but a tender, slow kiss between two people who were secure in their love for one another and knew there was no one that they had to convince of that love.