Thank you for all the reviews. I love 'em! Be warned things are about to go South again! But one more fuzzy wuzzy chapters that I know you will all enjoy. Happy 4th of July! Written in Ethan's POV.

Fourth of July Fun

The Fourth of July has always been my favorite holiday of them all. Always. I love the fireworks and the festivities, and this year I was going to go to the dance and enjoy that too with the most beautiful woman in Rock Springs.

I haven't seen Emily since Oliver and Louise's wedding last week. I have been busy though, working on my barn, my corrals and any other thing that I can find to keep myself busy and squelch the urge to run to town and spend time with Emily.

Today my brothers are here helping me build corrals. "Ethan?" Will asked. The boys had grown a lot this summer and both of them were good help now.

"What?" I say as I drop a post into the hole that I had just dug and began to tamp dirt in around it.

"What's courtin' like?" the brother that had never had any interest in girls before ask me.

I chuckle and tap his hat brim. "Why are you askin' Will?"

"I don't know. I was just wonderin'. Do you kiss Emily a lot when you're with her?"

I laugh out loud at that question. Then I think about how to respond. "I think these are questions you need to ask Pa."

We work until just before noon and then I send the boys home. I have moved out of the house of my childhood and into the house that I built just recently. I go in and begin to clean up. There will be all sorts of activities in town this afternoon and I promised Emily that I would come in and made sure that I bid on her pie. I told her that I would come and pick her up but she said that she and Louise had to be down at the pie deal early.

I go into the house and fill the wash basin and begin to wash my face, neck and hands. It has been hot already this early in July and I hate to think about the fact that it's just going to get hotter. After I wash up I go into the bedroom and take out clean clothes. I think I'll just wear my vest into town today, it is much to hot for a coat.

I look around the room as I change my clothes and think that the room needs paint. Maybe that would be a project that Emily would like to take on someday or maybe Ma. I rub my rib cage before I put my clean shirt on, happy that they no longer had to be taped up to hold them in place, especially in this July heat.

I jump into the buckboard that I recently purchased, I had to give Pa and Ma their buggy back, they had told me that I had had it long enough and I head to town.

Once I reach town, and park my buckboard at granddad's house, I wander down the boardwalk looking for Emily. Then I hear a voice, a voice I would know anywhere and I wished I could crawl into a barrel but I turn around anyway and say, "Hi Eliza, how are you?"

"Ethan, I want to introduce you to my new beau, this is Thomas." Eliza nearly purred, hanging onto the poor fellows arm.

"Howdy." I say to this Thomas. He looks familiar but I can't place him.

"Good day." Thomas says to me, and that helps me place him. He is the Thomas that was with Emily and Louise when they came back from Philadelphia. He worked at the gunsmith's shop.

I extend my hand and he weakly shakes it. The man hasn't lived in the west long enough I think to myself and almost give into the boyish urge to squeeze his hand, hard. I release his hand and turn back towards Eliza. "Are you enjoying yourself Eliza?"

"Oh yes. Thank you for your advice Ethan, Thomas makes me so happy." She said and then she smiled up at Thomas.

I personally think that at the moment Thomas looks a little uncomfortable, but I suppose anyone would be uncomfortable with a girl hanging all over them like that, in public anyway. I tell Eliza though, "I'm glad to hear that Eliza. I have to be going though; Emily is waiting for me somewhere around here."

Eliza and Thomas move on down the boardwalk, thankfully the opposite way of me, and I continue on my way. It didn't take me long to find Emily, all I had to do was follow the smell of pie. I was an expert at doing that and I went right up and said, "Miss Monk, your escort is waiting." I say to her, right up next to her ear in my lowest, deepest voice.

She was talking to someone else when I said it and she turned around I thought she was going to jump right out of her little white apron. "Ethan! You nearly scared the life out of me!" she said as she came around the table and took my arm with one hand and put her other over her heart. "I didn't expect you yet."

I'm laughing because she is so scared so I say, "Sorry darlin', did I scare you?"

She finally laughs then too, and says to me, "Yes! Goodness, never do that to me again."

"How much longer are you going to be here?" I ask. I can go find other things to do if she has to stay and bake pies or whatever deals her mother has her dragged into.

"Uhm, maybe another half an hour. What are you going to go and do?"

"I don't know." I say to her. I don't really want to go wander around and look at all the different booths without her.

"I can probably get out of here now, if you really want me too." Emily says to me softly, rubbing my arm.

"Or," I say to her, "I can wait here a half an hour for you."

"No, let me go and talk to Marie and see if it's all right." Emily says to me. I take a chair to wait and pretty soon she comes back, and I see that's she wearing that blue dress from the wedding. I like that blue dress, so I smile at her, my biggest, widest, most seductive grin. I've seen Pa use it a time or two and I know that it works, well.

Emily smiles at me too, when she sees that grin on my face. I stand up and offer her my arm. Then remembering that I told my mother that I would check on my grandfather before I went too far into the day I say to Emily, "Would you mind walking over to granddad's house with me for a minute?"

"Of course not." Emily says to me, taking my arm after she has her little hat settled on her head.

We walk down to granddads and I just walk right in. "Granddad!" I call out.

"In here Ethan." I hear my grandfather weakly say from his bedroom. He hasn't been in good health since his bout with pneumonia the winter before and we all worried about him. Emily let go of my arm as we walk further into the house and stays in the sitting room while I go on into my grandfather's room.

"How we doin' today granddad?" I say as I come in and pull up a chair to his bedside. I take his knarld old hand into mine. My great grandfather is well over ninety years old now, but I also know that losing him would be hard for me, for my parents and for my brothers and sister.

Weakly my grandfather replies to my question, "I'm ok. Is the town all heht up for the fourth?"

I smile at my grandfather; he always enjoyed the fourth too. "Yeah granddad. They got everything all decorated with the red, white and blue bunting and the gals have been busy baking pies and cakes."

Granddad smiles at me, one that reaches his eyes, and as he pats my hand says, "That's good Ethan. When are you gonna marry that blonde gal boy?"

I laugh and say, "I don't know granddad. Someday."

Granddad laughs and then coughs, hard. "Where is she?" he asks.

"Out in the sitting room, would you like her to come in?" I ask my grandfather. I can only imagine what he's going to say to Emily but I will entertain him. He nods at me and so I go and get Emily out of the sitting room.

"What does he want with me?" she asks.

I shrug and then say, "He probably wants to tell you to get rid of me because I'm nothing but trouble."

We go back into granddad's room and I let Emily have the chair. "Hello Mr. Benson." She says to him.

"Emily, Emily, don't let Ethan let you wait forever to get married." My grandfather says.

I laugh out loud then and pat granddad on the hand and lay another hand on Emily's shoulder.

Emily leans in close to him and says, "I won't let him do that, I promise you."

We visit with granddad for a few minutes longer and then I can tell that he's getting tired and after my granddad falls asleep again I help Emily up and we go back outside into the bright sunshine. "Goodness it's hot outside today." Emily said as we went back out.

"Yup." I say looking up at the sky. "I bet it gets over 100 today."

I put my hand at the small of Emily's back and we make our way down the crowded streets of Rock Springs. "Where would you like to go?" I say bending down so I can say it close to her ear.

"Let's go over and see how Oliver is doing with Jesse." Emily says to me.

I know she is totally smitten with her nephew so I allow her to go and see the little guy. At only four months old, he seemed to have all the women in the family wrapped around his little chubby little finger. He even had my mother smitten and pushing at me to hurry up and get married and give her grandchildren. We find Oliver a short while later, running one of the game booths, Jesse in the crook of his arm. He waves at us and calls out, "Em, can you come and help me out a minute!"

We hurry over there and Emily instantly takes Jesse. "Oh, someone has a wet diaper, don't they." She coos to the baby.

I look at Oliver and say, "And Papa has a wet front from that wet diaper."

He doesn't laugh, just hands me the bean bags he's holding for the bean bag toss and says, "If my sister will change her nephew's diaper, I will go change my shirt."

I take the bean bags and encourage all the little ones that come up and try their hardest to hit the holes with the bags to earn a few pieces of candy. I listen to Emily as she changes Jesse's diaper and clothes behind me, cooing and tickling the little boys belly the whole time. When she finishes she brings a refreshed Jesse back to where I am. "Where's Oliver at?"

"He went to change his shirt." I say, handing the bean bags to the next child in line. "So we'll be here until he gets back."

"You don't sound happy, what's wrong?" Emily ask me, shifting her nephew to her other arm.

"I planned on spending the day with you." I tell her, "Not handing bean bags to little kids so they can try to win candy."

Emily smiles at me then and I feel a little bit better, then she says, "I remember a little Ethan who loved to come over here and win candy."

"I know." I tell her. While the kid in line does his best to hit the holes in the board I watch Emily and Jesse as I have many times before and again think what a good mother she is going to make when that time comes.

Oliver comes back, in a fresh shirt and takes his son again, "Well did you have fun with your auntie, Jesse?" he asks the baby.

"Of course he did!" Emily says.

I just silently watch the interaction between brother and sister. I still have a hard time seeing Oliver in this capacity. I would never have imagined him to marry, have a baby and do the whole Papa business, but he is handling it well. Wet shirts and all.

Oliver is busy so we move on along again. "What time am I supposed to judge all those pies?" I ask Emily, rubbing my belly. "I'm getting hungry."

"Two o'clock." Emily says.

I take out the pocket watch that Emily had gotten for me for Christmas last year and look at it. "Well its one thirty now, I suppose we better head that way."

"My pie better win, Mr. Stabler." Emily says to me, poking me in the ribs and then realizing what she did, looking horrified. "I'm sorry Ethan."

I wrap an arm around her waist and say, "Darlin', you can't hurt me, I'm invincible." Then I kiss her cheek. "As far as you winning the pie baking contest, it might look suspicious if you win and I'm the only judge."

Emily gives me a naughty look and then whispers in my ear, "I'll reward you later, if you try really hard."

I just grin like an idiot and we make our way over to the pie judging. I am relieved to see that there are two other judges, the town doctor and Emily's father John. I greet the two other men and pin on my judge pin after leaving Emily with the group of other hopeful women. We go along the line, each taking a bite of pie, then a drink of water to wash the taste of the previous pie from our mouths. I am really enjoying myself; I love pie and each one taste like heaven. I vow to myself that I will never let myself be asked to judge another pie baking contest again. I can't make up my mind. After we finish tasting and testing each of the pies, we, the three judges, go and to a secluded area and to make our decision.

"Well I'm sure Ethan is going to say that he likes Emily's best." Doc Wilson says to me, with a grin.

"If he's smart, he will." John said with a laugh.

"I liked me all. Let's give me all blue ribbons." I say.

"Well he's smart enough to know not to make a whole brood of females mad." Doc Wilson said.

After talking for about ten minutes we went back and began handing out ribbons and placing's to all the ladies. It ended up that Emily did come in tied for first with none other than my mother, Olivia. Emily was so excited that she first hugged her father and then Ethan. "You can have the pie, Ethan." She said in her excitement.

"Good." I tell her. "I hope Ma gives me her pie too."

We found a table and Emily watched as I woofed down the blueberry pie that she had made. It really was good and I was sure that we had made the best choice because my Ma had made an excellent strawberry rhubarb pie as well. I finish the pie and lean back. "That was excellent darlin'."

"Thank you." Emily says to me.

We wander about town for the rest of the afternoon, and then go to the community potluck supper. After that we head out to the town dance and to see the fireworks once it gets dark. I feel a little bit bad that I had left the other fellows without a guitar player but I want to be able to enjoy the evening with Emily so I left it sitting in the corner at home.

The dance was just beginning and I was just about to ask Emily to dance when my little sister Katie comes running up and grabs my hand. "Etan. Dance wit me." I am a sucker for my little sister so I look apologetically at Emily and pick Katie up. I see then that Emily's father steps into my place and dances the first dance of the evening with his daughter. I take Katie around the floor in my arms, her laughing and hugging my neck in pure glee. By the end of the dance I'm red faced and laughing too. I set her down on the floor at the end after she kisses my cheek and hugs my neck. "Tank you Etan." She says to me.

I go back to Emily and she smiles at me. "That was adorable."

I smile and puff myself up a little. "I know I'm adorable."

"Not you, the fact that you took the time to dance with your little sister." Emily said, putting her arm through mine.

The music slows down so I stand up and bend down, "May I have this dance?" I say to Emily.

She giggles at my sudden chivalry and takes my outstretched hand. "Why yes you may sir."

I place my hand on her small waist and feel her hand on my shoulder. I move as close as I'm allowed to by polite society, but I'd be a lot closer if I could. The dance begins and I wonder if Emily is feeling like I am. Like we're the only people in the room, I only have eyes for her and I hope that she knows that. I also hope that she knows that I do plan to ask her to marry me, as soon as I have things the way I want them at the ranch. I whisper in her ear, "I love you Em." When I see her smile I know without her saying a word that she feels the same way that I do.

We dance for almost an hour before it gets dark enough for the fireworks show. When it begins we go out and find a somewhat secluded spot, which is hard to do in a town the size of Rock Springs and when the whole country is there for the Fourth, to watch the show. In the shadows I pull Emily into my arms and rest my chin on her shoulder. "What are you thinking about?" I ask in a soft voice.

"Freedom. I am so happy that I have the freedom to love who ever I choose, that I have the freedom to love you, Ethan Stabler." Emily says without looking at me.

"Me too, Emily Munch, me too." I whisper. As we watch the burst of white, red and blue in the sky. It had been a good day and I felt that things could only get better; they had to, didn't they?

Aww, are we all crying yet? (I thought the end was sweet!) Hopefully a nice piece of fluff. It got a little longer than I thought it would but that's what happens I guess. Please R&R!