A knock sounded at the door the day after the Grant family got home. Nathan went to open it, coming face-to-face with the Coulters. They were wearing large smiles, and Rosemary wrapped Nathan in a hug while Lee shook his hand. "Welcome back!" he said heartily as Rosemary rushed to Elizabeth and hugged her tightly. Little Fred trailed after his new mother, smiling when he saw Allie and Jack. The two were building a tower on the floor, and Allie invited Fred to join them.

"You've been gone for ages!" Rosemary exclaimed. "It's lonely around here without you!"

"Lonely?" Lee asked, shooting his wife a look. "What do you mean, lonely? You have me and Fred."

Rosemary waved a hand. "You know what I mean, Lee. Elizabeth is my best friend, and a girl needs girl talk from time to time!"

"Especially when that girl isn't feeling well," Lee said pointedly.

Elizabeth looked at Rosemary with concern. "You haven't been feeling well?"

Rosemary shot Lee a look, then turned back to Elizabeth. "Mild tummy troubles. They come and go. It's nothing I can't handle."

"And she refuses to see Carson," Lee said. Glancing at Nathan, he said, "Help me out here, pal."

Nathan chuckled, clapping Lee on the shoulder and looking at the women. "Rosemary, if Elizabeth wasn't feeling well, even mildly, I'd want her to see Carson too. I think Lee might be right."

Rosemary wrinkled her nose at him, reminding Nathan of Allie at four when he told her she couldn't have more than one piece of candy after dinner. "I'm fine, Lee Coulter. It's just a little bug, and I'm sure it'll pass soon."

Nathan smiled to himself at Lee's resigned look while Rosemary continued to chat with Elizabeth at a mile a minute. "Are you sure she's not feeling well?" Nathan asked, studying Rosemary. "She seems to be just fine."

Lee shrugged. "It's been going on for the last two weeks, sometimes better, sometimes worse. I should just say something to Carson. Maybe he could insist on checking up on her."

Rosemary pulled Elizabeth over to the men. "I'll keep an eye on the kids," she said. "Lee has something he wants to show you."

Nathan blinked. "He just said you weren't feeling well…"

"I'm fine," Rosemary insisted once again, all but pushing them out the door. "And this won't take too long." She shut the door as Elizabeth and Nathan stood bewildered on the porch.

"What in the world?" Elizabeth said, looking from the door to Nathan. "What just happened?"

Lee chuckled. "Rosie's got it in her head that I need to show you something at this very moment." He motioned to the car. "Pile in."

"Where are we going?" Elizabeth asked, squeezing in between Nathan and Lee.

A mysterious smile covered Lee's face, which raised Nathan's suspicions. "All right, Lee, what have you done?"

"Not a thing that you're going to know until I show you," Lee said, sounding a tag smug about having a secret. Nathan grinned and let it be. Lee looked so excited about something, and while Nathan's curiosity was piqued, he also knew that he wouldn't get anything out of his friend until Lee was ready to speak.

Five minutes later, Lee turned his car onto the road that led to the land Nathan had bought. Blinking, Nathan looked around Elizabeth at Lee. "We're going to our land?"

Lee nodded, a giant grin on his face. "There's a little surprise waiting for you two there," he said. Within seconds, the land came into view. Nathan and Elizabeth gasped simultaneously, jaws dropping.

There, nestled among a backdrop of trees and in front of the pond, was a gorgeous, completed house, looking exactly like the one Nathan and Elizabeth had drawn up together. Nathan found himself at a complete loss for words. After several seconds of fumbling, he managed to get out half a sentence. "Lee...how...when…?"

Lee's smile was wider than Nathan had ever seen it. "The town came together to build your home. We wanted to show you both how much we love and appreciate you and everything you do for Hope Valley." He turned off the ignition and hopped out. "Come on. I'm sure you'll want to see the inside."

The beautiful wood house was painted a deep brown, making it almost look like a log cabin. The large wraparound porch was inviting and spacious, and Nathan knew instinctively that their family would spend many evenings on that porch. He and Elizabeth had designed it to be a family house, big enough to hold any children that came along as well as able to host gatherings of their family and friends. Everything was on one level, which gave the home a sprawling look that matched perfectly with the surroundings.

As they stepped onto the porch, Elizabeth gripped Nathan's hand. "It's exactly how we envisioned it," she said, awe in her voice.

Nathan looked at Lee, who was still grinning like the Cheshire cat. "Lee, how can we ever thank you for this?"

"Like I said, this was a thank you to the both of you," Lee said firmly. "It was an act of love by the whole town. No thanks required." He pushed the front door open. "Go on, you two. Explore your new home." He peeked in after them. "Obviously there's still work to be done. The walls need painting, and you'll have to furnish and decorate it. But we'll help with that too. Just let us know what works. This house is going to become your home before the summer is over!"

Nathan took in everything. The smell of fresh wood. The airiness of the house. The brightness from all the windows. The perfection of each room. When they came to the master room, Elizabeth squealed, startling Nathan. "What?" he asked.

She pointed to the bathroom, where Nathan could see a large tub and something that looked like…

"Indoor plumbing!" Elizabeth said with a happy sigh. "Do you have any idea how much I've missed that? And we have a bathroom in our bedroom!"

"And two more in the house as well," Lee said. "We knew you'd like that. Especially since you're likely to have a growing family."

Nathan watched as a pretty blush filled Elizabeth's cheeks, and he squeezed her hand tenderly. "It's perfect," he said, more to Elizabeth than to Lee. Hugging her close, he closed his eyes, gratitude for their friends and their town washing over him. He opened his eyes, looking at Lee, and held out a hand. "Thank you, my friend."

Lee gave him a firm handshake, then hugged Elizabeth as she thanked him too. "You're both very welcome." He smiled. "Now, why don't we head back to town? I'm sure Rosie has all kinds of suggestions she's just dying to tell you about for how to decorate your home."

Fiona ran a paintbrush up and down a bedroom wall methodically. She had been assigned to help paint Allie's room with Faith and Clara. The young girl had requested a light yellow for her bedroom, and as the three women painted the walls, Fiona had to admit that she loved the color. It was sunny and light without being overbearing. Allie had made a good choice.

She took a short break and saw Clara shoot Faith a sly look. "So, Faith," she said, a smile firmly in place. "When is Carson going to propose?"

Faith blushed prettily, lowering her eyes and continuing to move her brush back and forth over the walls. "Whatever do you mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean," Clara laughed. "We're all just waiting for the announcement. You two clearly love each other."

"True," Faith said with a sparkle in her eyes. She lowered her voice. "Personally, I'm ready for him to ask. I think he's going to, but he wants to make it a surprise."

Fiona sighed. "A surprise! How romantic!"

Faith and Clara turned their eyes on her, and she instinctively knew the question that was about to follow. "What about you?" Faith asked, brows raised. "When is Lucas going to propose? You two are also crazy about each other. Seems like the next logical step is an engagement."

"He brought marriage up a few weeks ago," Fiona admitted. "While we were here at the house, actually. To be honest, I'm not sure if he's going to propose any time soon. We're both content to be getting to know each other better, but we're also both open to getting married. I think it'll just happen naturally. When the time is right, we'll know."

"Good answer," Clara said. "And a good attitude to have about it."

Faith nodded her agreement. "That is a good place to be in." She smiled. "And the two of you are so in love. It's beautiful to see."

Fiona blushed slightly. "He's a wonderful man." She looked at her friends with something like awe in her eyes. "How did we all manage to find the perfect men for us?"

Clara smiled. "Because the time was right."

Fiona smiled, nodding, then noticed Elizabeth passing by out of the corner of her eye. "I'll be right back," she said, hurrying after her friend. "Elizabeth!" she called.

Elizabeth turned. "Hi, Fiona! How's the painting going?"

"Swell," Fiona responded. She looked at the large kettle in Elizabeth's hands. "Where are you headed?"

"I'm going to bring this chicken soup to Rosemary," Elizabeth answered. "She's still got that stomach bug off and on, so I'm hoping this will help."

"Still?" Fiona asked, eyes wide. "It's been almost a month now that she's had that."

Elizabeth nodded, looking a little concerned. "And she still won't go to see Carson. I'm getting worried." A small smile crossed her face, and she leaned in conspiratorially. "We should bamboozle her into going to see him."

Fiona laughed. "Just let me know when."

"I will." Elizabeth shifted the pot, then looked at Fiona curiously. "Did you need something?"

"Nope!" Fiona said. "I just wanted to say hi. It's been a while since we've chatted. Would you like to grab lunch at the cafe soon?"

"Absolutely!" Elizabeth agreed. "I'd love that."

"Perfect," Fiona said, smiling. "We'll set up a time soon. I'll let you get going, but tell Rosemary hi for me!"

"I will," Elizabeth said, heading for the door. "See you later, Fiona."

A few days later, Elizabeth woke slowly and groaned out loud, placing a hand over her stomach. She looked around, feeling woozy and wondering what time it was. Usually she woke up in Nathan's arms, but he was nowhere to be seen. She sat up and immediately regretted it. Her head spun, forcing her to take several deep breaths to calm the spinning.

Nathan walked into the room, relief lighting his eyes. "You're awake!" he said, setting a teacup on the bedside table next to her. "I was getting worried."

Elizabeth blinked. "What time is it?"

"Nearly 11:00," he said. "I sent the kids to play with Fred outside. Apparently Rosemary is having a sick day too."

Elizabeth groaned again. Nathan handed her the tea, and she took a grateful sip. "I think I caught whatever Rosemary has," she said, slumping against the pillow. "I don't feel awful, but I don't feel good either." She took another sip of the tea. Whatever Nathan had put in it, it seemed to be working. Her stomach already felt calmer. "Thank you, sweetheart," she said. "This tea is helping."

Nathan kissed her head. "Good." He stood. "Can I help you downstairs, or do you want to stay up here?"

Elizabeth threw back the covers. "I'd like to be downstairs." Nathan held her robe for her, and she tied it loosely around her waist. She chuckled as Nathan put an arm around her and started walking her toward the door. "I'm not feeling that badly, Nathan. I can walk, you know."

He smiled. "I know, but I want to take care of you."

She leaned her head against his arm. "I can't argue with that."

Within a few minutes, Elizabeth was situated on the settee, and Nathan kissed her forehead with a promise to be back in a little bit. "I'm going to go check on the kids," he said, closing the door softly behind him.

Before Elizabeth could pick up the book Nathan had left on the table for her, the door opened again and Rosemary came in, moving a little slower than usual but still demonstrating more energy than Elizabeth felt. She came to the settee and sat beside her friend, taking her hands. "Oh, Elizabeth! I'm so sorry I got you sick too!"

Elizabeth chuckled. "It's alright, Rosemary. It's not that bad. And I'm actually feeling better than I was when I first woke up. Nathan made me some tea that is really helping."

"Good," Rosemary said, looking relieved. "After everything you've done for me in the past couple weeks, I feel horrible that you got a version of it."

"I'm sure I'll be fine," Elizabeth said. "It doesn't seem to be anything serious."

There was a knock at the door, and Carson poked his head in. "Hello, ladies," he said, coming in. "I'm here at the request of your husbands."

Rosemary pursed her lips. "Carson, I've told Lee time and again that I don't need…"

"Rosemary," Carson interrupted, placing his medical bag on the table. "It never hurts to have a run of the mill checkup. You've been feeling unwell for over a month, and that's not normal. And Nathan asked me to check on Elizabeth, too."

Elizabeth smiled, feeling thankful for Nathan's concern even though she didn't think it was necessary. Carson looked between them. "So who's getting examined first?"

Elizabeth volunteered and dutifully answered Carson's questions as he examined her. Rosemary put up a little more of a fuss, but she acquiesced to the examination as well. When it was over, both women looked up at Carson expectantly.

"Well?" Rosemary asked, hands on her hips. "Will we survive?"

Carson chuckled. "Of course you will. In fact, you're both very healthy."

Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good to know." She frowned. "So what is this we have? Just a little bug?"

"I don't know if I'd say little," Carson replied. Elizabeth could have sworn he was trying to hide a smile.

Rosemary tapped her foot impatiently. "Alright, out with it, Carson. What's going on? Is this something that can be treated?"

"It's a self-resolving situation," Carson said calmly. "But it'll take about seven more months."

"Seven months?!" Rosemary screeched. "How can it possibly take seven months?" She continued on, but Elizabeth didn't hear what she was saying. A dawning realization swept over her, and she felt a sudden giddiness. A smile made its way to her face and refused to leave. Nathan and the children were going to be thrilled. Rosemary stopped mid-sentence, staring at her. "What is it, Elizabeth?"

"Rosemary," Elizabeth said softly, joy washing over her. "Think about it for a minute." She laughed, pressing a hand to her stomach. "Oh, this is wonderful!"

Her best friend looked confused, but then her eyes dropped to Elizabeth's stomach and then to her own. Her eyes widened, and tears filled them as she looked back at Carson. "Is it true?" she whispered. "Is it really true?"

"Congratulations, ladies," Carson said with a wide grin and a nod. "Come February, there will be two new residents of Hope Valley."