The first week of school was a successful one for both Elizabeth and her students, though her mind was also a tad preoccupied with the upcoming visit from her mother-in-law. Friday arrived, the day Charlotte was supposed to arrive in Hope Valley. To celebrate her visit, the Thornton and Coulter families were going to enjoy dinner at Jack and Elizabeth's house. Jack was also going to make an announcement to his mother and the rest of the family and friends, but Elizabeth already knew what he was going to say as he had already discussed it with her. During the early evening hours as the Thorntons were busy preparing, they all heard the sound of a horse outside, "Sounds like Ma is here," said Jack as he went outside to greet her.
Charlotte was just dismounting her horse when Jack approached her, "Hi Jack," she smiled and embraced him.
"Hi Ma," he kissed her cheek, "Elizabeth and the kids are inside getting everything set up for dinner," informed Jack.
"Hard to believe they're not really kids anymore," said Charlotte as they both went inside the house.
"Grandma!" Mary said happily as she ran to hug her. William and Charlotte came up behind her.
"Hi Grandma," said William in glee.
"Oh look at you," Charlotte observed her grandson in his Mountie uniform, "You look so much like your father when he first joined the Mounties."
William chuckled, "That's the same thing Aunt Rosemary said."
Elizabeth wiped her hands on a dishrag and came over to everyone else, "Hi Charlotte," she embraced her mother-in-law.
"Hi Lizzie," Charlotte kissed her on the cheek.
"Lee, Rosemary, and the kids should be over in a few minutes," stated Elizabeth.
The Coulters arrived just as the Thorntons finished setting the table and preparing the food. Rosemary smiled when she was Charlotte, "Hi Charlotte!" she shouted, excitedly throwing her arms around her.
"Hi Rosie. Long time, no see," said Charlotte, "Lee," she embraced him as well.
"Mrs. Thornton," Lee hugged her back.
She looked over towards Lilly and Aaron, "Lilly and Aaron Coulter, is that you?"
"It's really us, Mrs. Thornton," said Aaron.
"Look at you both. You've both grown so much since I last saw you. And you are the spitting image of your Mama when she was your age," she told Lilly.
"Yeah, I get that a lot," Lilly joked.
"What about me?" asked Violet.
"Oh, I knew I was forgetting someone," said Charlotte jokingly, crouching down the Violet's level, "How has age ten been treating you?"
"Well, I just had the chickenpox, so not good," Violet wrinkled her nose. She jutted her chest out and said, "But I was good at not scratching my itchy spots!"
"She was, I'll give her credit for that," said Rosemary.
"Well, that's good. Tom wasn't good at not scratching his itchy spots. I'm sure Jack would be good at not scratching," said Charlotte.
"He wasn't," Elizabeth shook her head and Jack glared at her jokingly, "He was worse than the kids when it came to scratching."
"Well, on that note, dinner is ready. Chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, and vegetables. And Rosie made her famous chocolate cherry cake for dessert," said Jack.
"Well good, because I'm starving," Charlotte rubbed her hands together.
The families sat down and said grace before they began their meals, "Oh, Jack, you mentioned you were going to make an announcement," said Lee.
Jack and Elizabeth looked at each other and Elizabeth nodded encouragingly. Jack took a deep breath and said, "At the end of this year, I'm going to retire," he announced.
"Retire? Really?" asked Rosemary, "Why?"
"Well, twenty years in the Mounties is starting to catch up with me. Bill has offered me a job helping him with the law enforcement. But, once I retire, the Mounties can no longer assign me or deploy me anywhere and I won't be handling quite as many tasks. That also means that a new Mountie will be assigned to Hope Valley."
Everyone looked at each other slightly shocked, but most everyone was smiling, "Well, it'll be great to have you back to ourselves again, Dad," commented Charlotte.
"Yes, we now have to share William with the Mounties," said Mary.
"Not to mention my sister," said Aaron.
"Aaron," Lilly scolded through gritted teeth.
"Oops, sorry," apologized Aaron.
"Share William…with Lilly? What do you mean?" asked Charlotte confusingly.
William and Lilly glanced at each other before William said, "Lilly and I are in a courtship."
Charlotte's eyebrows shot up in surprise, "We only started courting two weeks ago, so it's really not anything serious yet," Lilly said quickly.
"Oh, it's not that," explained Charlotte, "I'm just wondering what took William so long?" she asked jokingly, "William, I love you, but you're just like your father. You find a girl you like and it takes you forever to do something about it!"
Everyone at the table chuckled, "Well, quite frankly, I was a little nervous about how you would react, Grandma," admitted William honestly.
"Well, why would you be?" asked Charlotte.
Jack, Elizabeth, Lee, and Rosemary all looked at each other, "Because we told them about us," Rosemary said as she gestured between her and Jack.
"Oh," said Charlotte.
"I didn't mean to hear Mommy and Daddy talking, it just happened," said Violet innocently.
"Violet," warned Rosie.
"It's okay Rosie, I understand," said Charlotte. After dinner, everyone helped clean up before the boys went outside to play baseball, "Look at them. My forty-seven year old son still has the energy to play baseball all the time," she joked with Elizabeth.
Elizabeth chuckled, "Trust me, he feels it."
"Oh, Rosie, Lilly, and I were talking and we're all going riffle shooting tomorrow. I don't suppose you might like to join us?" questioned Charlotte.
Elizabeth chuckled again, but shook her head, "No, that's quite alright. You ladies have a good time."
"I promise we'll be home for lunch with Abigail and Frank. It's better to go in the early morning anyways," said Charlotte.
"As long as you think you can handle both Rosemary and Lillian," said Elizabeth.
"Oh please. If I could handle Jack, Tom, and Rosie as children all on my own, then an adult Rosie and a nearly adult Lilly will be a piece of cake," stated Charlotte.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that admission," laughed Elizabeth, "And don't even ask about Violet. Lee and Rosemary have already decided they won't take her hunting or shooting until she's thirteen, just like with Lilly and Aaron."
"Thirteen. Tom helped Jack harvest his first buck at age six," Charlotte shook her head in amusement, "I won't say anything. I wanted it to be just the three of us anyways, unless you wanted to come along."
Elizabeth shook her head, "No, that's quite alright. Enjoy yourselves tomorrow."