Jack was his usually cheerful self by the time the sun dawned on the Grant's home on Friday morning. He greeted his big sister with a "morning, Ally," as Ally came into the room to get the boy ready for the morning. Despite her best efforts, she had not been able to talk her parents into letting her skip school that day. At least she had been given permission to join the others at the Queen of Hearts after school.

After getting her brother ready, Ally led Jack downstairs. She held his hand as they carefully and slowly made their way down the steps. As soon as both feet were on the bottom floor of their home, Jack pulled his hand out of Ally's and hurried toward the voices in the dining room.

Eleanor and Elizabeth had made waffles and eggs. It was the first time that Elizabeth had cooked since she had given birth the week before. However, her overprotective husband was refusing to let her carry anything from the kitchen to the diningroom. Shooing Elizabeth to the diningroom, Nathan helped Eleanor bring stuff out to the table.

Spotting his mama, Jack made a beeline for her. "Morning, Mama," Jack said as he threw his arms around her legs.

"Hello, my Sweet Boy," Elizabeth replied, her hand finding a resting place on his head briefly before holding her hand out to him. Jack happily took a hold of her hand.

As certain movements were still painful, Elizabeth did not try to kneel down. Instead, she led him over to his high chair. Lillian was waiting and picked the toddler up to settle him in the highchair as Gabriel had Gabriella in his arms.

"Thank you," Elizabeth told Lillian, as she sat down in the chair next to Jack's high chair.

"You are welcome," Lillian said. "I have a feeling that we are not getting Gabriella out of Gabriel's arms until he leaves this house," she commented with a bright smile as she moved back to her chair beside her fiancé.

"No one let me hold her last night," Gabriel replied. He had taken Gabriella from Elizabeth when she went to the kitchen to cook breakfast and had not relinquished her since. Though not asleep, Gabriella was laying contently in Gabriel's arms, looking around the room.

Elizabeth, Lillian, Billy and Ally all laughed at the comment.

"There certainly were a lot of hands to hold her last night," Elizabeth commented.

"Having my family here was not too much for you was it, Elizabeth?" Gabriel asked, looking up from the infant in his arms to look at Elizabeth.

"No," Elizabeth replied immediately. "I was always use to a full house growing up in Hamilton. Family was always coming and going in my parents' house. Last night kind of felt like one of those times to me. It was nice. The house is going to seem empty when you all go home."

As if in response to Elizabeth's comment, Gabriella let out a wail to remind her Mama that she would still be around when the guests had left.

"Yes, I will have you and Jack to keep me company when everyone else is gone," Elizabeth told the little girl even as Gabriel spoke a few soft words to the infant to quiet her.

Eleanor and Nathan finished brining items out to the table and took their seats. The group bowed their heads and then the serving dishes were passed around the table. A lot of the talk at the breakfast table that morning had to with what needed to be done at the Queen of Hearts. While the others were turning the saloon into a wedding venue, Eleanor and Elizabeth were going to be making sure everything Lillian and Grace would need for the morning was together and putting Billy's clothes together for the morning. Gabriel, Billy and Nathan all planned on being dressed when they left the house in the morning.

Ally finished her breakfast and then went upstairs to grab her books. Coming back downstairs she tried once more to get out of school.

"Are you sure you won't need my help?" Ally asked, looking up at Nathan as they stood in the foyer.

Nathan handed his daughter her coat while reaching for the books she held.

"We will have plenty of help," Nathan assured her, as she reluctantly took her coat from him. "You will be there to see the rehearsal this evening."

"But I'll miss seeing the transformation," Ally protested.

"Which Mr. Bouchard might be thankful for so you do not give him advice."

"I was just trying to be helpful," Ally commented. "Besides, one of his shelves did collapse, remember."

"I remember," Nathan told her, thinking about that day. He had felt the spark when his hand had brushed Elizabeth's. It was probably the first time he acknowledged that he felt something for Elizabeth.

"He should have used dowels," Ally sated again.

"Yes, but as Lucas will not be building shelves today, we should all make out just fine," Nathan said as he heard a car pull up to the house outside. "I think that is your ride to school," he added, as Lee had been taking Ally into school with Bridget and Ivy since Elizabeth had taken a break from teaching.

"Yes, sir," Ally said, as she finished buttoning her coat. She reached out for her books. After taking them from Nathan, Ally gave her Dad a hug. "Bye, everybody," Ally called out as she reached for the door handle.

There was a chorus of good-byes for the girl as Ally went outside and got into the waiting car.

"You are not doing that right."

Lucas paused at his task of hanging strings of greenery and white flowers from the banister of the staircase. For a moment he thought perhaps Ally Grant had skipped school again, but looking over the banister he saw a younger, brown haired girl staring up at him. He knew she had to be one of the orphans who had come to town with Chuck and Grace but as he had not been introduced to the children he was not sure of her name.

"Excuse me?" Lucas asked.

"Mrs. Bouchard told Miss Lillian that the staircase would be a cascade of leaves and flowers. I can see between the strings."

Lucas looked over the banister and up at the strings he had already hung. Sure enough, there were spaces between most of the strings. He looked back down at the girl on the floor below him.

"You need to hang them closer together," the girl stated in a simple matter of a fact manner. A manner that would have annoyed him with most adults, but coming from the young girl, amused him. Much like Ally's comments about dowels had.

"What if I just start hanging them closer from now on? Do you think anyone will notice?" Lucas asked.

The girl nodded her head. "Miss Lillian will notice. She is a perfectionist."

Lucas chuckled. Yes, Lillian would notice the gaps in her flowers. As would Fiona. As he did not want to be the reason something was not quite right tomorrow, Lucas knew he would be starting from the top and rehanging the strings.

"What is your name?"

"Mary Louise," the girl answered.

"Well, Mary Louise, do you think you could help me out. You can stay down there and make sure I am doing this right this time around."

"I can do that," Mary Louise replied seriously, her hands clasped behind her back.

"Wonderful," Lucas said, as he went back up the few stairs that he had made it down. "We want everything just right for Miss Lillian tomorrow."

"I wonder if I will ever have a wedding day?" Mary Louise commented.

"I think you have a few years before you are old enough to get married, but I am sure when the time comes, you will charm some young fella into asking you," Lucas commented, keeping the chuckle internal this time. It was never a good idea to laugh at a lady's dreams of their future wedding, no matter how young that lady was.

"A little more. Just a little more, right there," Fiona said.

Arthur and Nathan put down the table they were moving. Fiona had created an arrangement for the tables that would allow guests to see the ceremony, the head table and leave room for a dance floor without moving things around during the wedding. It was an arrangement that she was following to a letter.

"I am going to go check to make sure the refreshment tables are set up correctly," Fiona said as she dashed off.

Arthur looked over at Nathan. "I think trying to please women folk for a wedding might be harder than branding steers," he commented.

Nathan laughed. "Just be glad that Rosemary is making sure the decorations are done right and was not the one arranging the tables. We would probably still be moving them back and forth."

"I heard that," Rosemary said as she breezed past. "However, I am too busy to give you a hard time about it."

Nathan and Arthur chuckled as Rosemary went to check on Chuck, Grace and Fred's progress with the archway.

As he stood there, Arthur's gaze found his son and the three boys who had been following him around all day. Matthew, Vincent and Christian all clearly looked up to Gabriel. Arthur had a feeling that if Billy had come into town, he would have been following after Gabriel as well. As Billy had retreated upstairs the night before as soon as dinner was over, it had not surprised Arthur to learn that the lad had opted to stay at the Grant's with Elizabeth and Eleanor. He understood the feeling as well. There were times after spending a couple of weeks on the trail with the cattle and the limited company of the hands riding with him, that a huge family dinner felt overwhelming. Given Billy's past, Arthur was sure that suddenly meeting a whole bunch of people who you weren't sure would consider you family or not, would be overwhelming.

Arthur admired his son for rising to the challenge of giving Billy a parental figure to look up to. Arthur could already tell that Billy was a good person who just needed the right kind of fostering to be able to be successful in the world. Arthur had no doubt that his son could provide that.

"Just because Gabe chose to follow his dream, it does not mean he does not respect and admire what you have built, sir."

Arthur looked from where Gabriel and the boys were placing chairs around the tables that he and Nathan had placed, to his son's friend.

"Gabriel's choice to become a Mountie was him following a dream," Nathan told him. "It was not a rejection of you or the ranch that you built."

"Now I'll admit that Gabriel not wanting to take over the ranch stung my pride a bit," Arthur admitted. "However, I am proud of what he has accomplished. I am even proud of him for having the guts to stand up to me and follow his own dream. Can't say I still don't wish at times that his dream and my dream for him had lined up a little better."

"Does Gabe know that?" Nathan asked.

Before Arthur could answer, Fiona called for Nathan. Excusing himself, Nathan headed in her direction leaving Arthur alone. His gaze went back to Gabriel and the boys. Did his eldest son know that he was proud of him? It was a question that Arthur had always assumed the answer to was yes, but now that someone had actually asked him, Arthur was not so sure.

As they got closer, Arthur could tell that Gabriel was telling the boys a tale about Mountie training. It was a topic that Arthur wished Gabriel would not bring up around Matthew. Arthur respected Mounties and what they did, but one son in the profession was enough of a sacrifice. Arthur knew his wife would be even more terrified if she had another son join the service. Not to mention, Arthur still hoped that Matthew would retain his interest in the ranch and take it over someday. Yes, he had son-in-laws in the business. He knew the ranch would remain in the family in some fashion, but Arthur still hoped to pass it down to Matthew. He did not need Gabriel telling Matthew tales of adventure that might lead him away from the ranch.

"Can we go get a drink of water, Mountie Gabe?" Vincent asked, breaking through Arthur's thoughts.

Gabriel and the boys had just finished placing chairs at the table next to Arthur.

"Yes, go ahead," Gabriel told the boys.

Matthew, Vincent and Christian hurried off, leaving Arthur alone with his eldest son.

"Haven't I asked you not to tell Matthew tales of adventure that might lure him away?" Arthur asked, when he thought the three boys had moved out of earshot.

Gabriel opened his mouth to answer his father but Matthew chimed in first, having caught his father's words.

"I might enjoy hearing about Gabriel's experiences, but that does not mean I am longing to follow after him, Dad," Matthew said. "I love the ranch and working with the cattle and though I am proud of my big brother, I could never do what he does. Do not get mad at Gabriel because we asked him to tell us a story."

Arthur stood in silence, staring at his two boys standing side by side. He was starting to wonder how well he knew either one of them.

"You know Matthew, I think I could use some water myself," Gabriel said, draping his arm across his brother's shoulders and leading him toward the bar.

Arthur let them go. The conversation was not completed. For now though, he had a feeling all three of them needed space to digest what had been said.

Lucas looked around the saloon. Fiona was right. He did not recognize his own bar. However, it looked lovely, just as it had for Clara and Jesse's wedding. Lucas could deal with the unfamiliar ambiance for the sake of the happy couple.

Everything was in place for tomorrow. The rehearsal had gone well. The separate cakes for the two couples, Carson and Faith's union being celebrated the next day as well, had been stored in the kitchen here at the Queen of Hearts. Gabriel had gone upstairs briefly with his brother. Nathan was sitting with Ally while Grace and Chuck tried to round up their three charges, leaving Lillian standing at the bar with Lucas and Fiona.

"So, what is Mary Louise's story?" Lucas asked Lillian. The spunky girl had sparked his interest.

"Oh, she wasn't given you a hard time, was she?" Lillian asked. "I thought about coming to get her when I saw her looking at the banister when you were decorating. She can be a bit precocious but she really does have a good heart."

Lucas held up a hand. "I enjoyed her help," he assured Lillian who looked relieved. "I was just curious about her background but I did not want to upset her by asking."

"Grace and I do not know a whole lot about her. Other than her name and age, we were not told much when we took her in. Mary Louise has opened up a little bit about her past since coming to us. We know that she grew up on a farm. She does not remember her mother, though I do not know what happened to the lady. Mary Louise grew up tagging along with her father while he worked the farm. She learned quite a bit despite her age. She was the only one of us who knew how to milk the cow when Grace brought one home."

"Has anyone shown any interest in adopting her?" Lucas asked.

"No," Lillian admitted. "I think she comes off as too grown up to people when they come to the orphanage to meet the children. A lot of couples want younger children, And while Mary Louise is only seven, she does seem older."

Lucas nodded as he watched the girl walk out the front door holding Grace's hand. Something about the young girl had touched something inside him though he was not quite sure what.