Chapter 30: Ice-Skating with Lyndy and Wedding Plans

A couple of days later, Mitch called Amy to let her know that his parents had asked if they might be able to come back up for a visit on Saturday. Much to Amy's disappointment, she'd already committed to working with a client's horse. But she suggested that Mitch and Lyndy still go and that he could take her to the ice-skating rink as they'd mentioned to her earlier. As much as Mitch hated Amy not going with them, he thought that it could be a fun 'date' for Lyndy and him, and he'd love for his parents to get to spend some more time with her. So he asked Amy if she could put Lyndy on the phone.

"Hi Lyndy!"

"Hi Mitch!

"I was wondering…would you like to make a trip to Calgary with me on Saturday to visit Doc and Ginny and to go ice skating at a big rink like we talked about? Mama has to stay back and work, but what do you think?"

Lyndy looked at her mama and said, "Mitch wants to take me to see Doc and Ginny and to go ice-skating, Mama! May I go?" and Amy smiled and nodded her head yes, so Lyndy replied, "I'd love to see Doc and Ginny again, and I'd love to go ice skating at a big rink! I've never done that before."

"Then it's a date. I'll come and pick you up at about 9am on Saturday."

"Thanks, Mitch! See you Saturday! Bye, bye," and she handed the phone back to Amy.

"Mitch, she's really excited! You should have seen her eyes light up when you asked her! Oh! And I've wanted to ask you, what would you think about inviting your parents to spend Christmas with us here at Heartland?"

"I think that's a great idea, Amy! And I think they'd love to come."

"Then I'll run it by the family and get back to you so you can ask them while you're there."

"That sounds great!"

Amy ran the idea of the Cuttys coming for Christmas by Jack, Lisa and Lou, and they all loved the notion of having a chance to get to know them better before the wedding. And they would let Peter, Tim and Jessica know. Amy relayed the news to Mitch, and he was excited to ask them!

Lyndy was so excited the night before her 'date' with Mitch that she'd laid out the clothes she wanted to wear and made sure she had her snow suit and ice skates packed with an extra pair of socks as well. Amy had been pleased at her excited anticipation when she saw all the prep she'd made.

Saturday morning found Lyndy up bright and early looking forward to the trip to Calgary! As soon as she got dressed, she headed straight to get some breakfast. She ate quickly so she could go to the barn to see her mama and brought her brush to ask for help with her hair. She also hoped to get a little time with Harley before Mitch arrived. Amy was happy to see her, and after helping Lyndy with her hair, she suggested she brush Harley. As Lyndy brushed Harley, she talked to him with adventurous anticipation about what she was about to do with Mitch. Amy overheard and smiled to herself. It wasn't too long before Mitch arrived. Lyndy heard him drive up and ran out to give him a hug. He picked her up and carried her inside the barn to find Amy, and they hugged and shared a chaste kiss. Mitch wished Amy a good day and said how much they were going to miss her going with them, and then as he sat her down said, "Lyndy, are you ready for us to hit the road?" And she nodded an enthusiastic yes.

"I'm excited to see Doc and Ginny again! And to go ice-skating!" she said to Mitch reaching out to hold his hand as they walked to the truck with Amy following.

"Me, too! And they will be glad to see you, too!"

Mitch helped her get settled into the child booster seat he'd especially purchased for her, and he kissed Amy goodbye. As he slid into the driver's seat, he made sure he and Lyndy could see each other in his rearview mirror. He rolled his window down for one more kiss with Amy, as Lyndy said from the backseat, "Mama, don't forget to take my brush back in the house!"

Then they were off. Singing together helped the ride go pretty quickly for them, and Lyndy told Mitch all about her week at school. Cody's name came up again, a little to Mitch's chagrin. She asked Mitch to tell her some stories about growing up, so he thought back to some of his fun memories with Zach to share with her.

Before they knew it, they were pulling up in front of Doc and Ginny's condo. His parents greeted them with open arms and were so glad to see them again! Ginny had a lunch already prepared so she could bring it out when they were ready. She had a couple of crafts ready for Lyndy – a nativity scene and an ornament craft. Lyndy decided to decorate the ornament* for her mama. Mitch visited with his dad while Lyndy and Ginny had fun putting the nativity scene** together, and as they did, Ginny told her the story of baby Jesus. Mitch overheard them and recalled all the Christmases he'd listened to his mom tell him the story. They then had a lovely lunch. After lunch, Ginny surprised them with baked gingerbread for them to build a gingerbread house.*** This project became a family affair, and Mitch made sure to take a selfie of all of them with the house and texted it to Amy. Of course, they all had to sample the gingerbread as well, and all very much agreed how delicious it was! Mitch asked his parents about coming for Christmas, and they were delighted and really looked forward to getting to meet Amy and Lyndy's family! Ginny asked Mitch if there would be a Christmas Eve service available for them to attend. He told her he would check into it, and it also reminded him that his parents' faith was something he should bring up to Amy.

The day had been a wonderful time together, and before they knew it, it was time for ice-skating. Ginny had carefully wrapped the nativity and ornament in paper and placed them in a nice gift bag which she personally carried to the truck. There were lots of hugs, thank yous and goodbyes to each other before Mitch and Lyndy headed to the rink.

When they arrived at the Olympic Plaza**** ice rink, Lyndy was quite impressed. It was definitely different from the pond! Mitch explained to her that the Plaza was built in 1988 for the Winter Olympic Games, and it was where the medal ceremonies were held; and that now in the winter, they had free ice-skating, then in the summertime, it was a spray pool. Lyndy asked, "Olympics like Georgie is training for?"

And Mitch said, "Yes, but the Olympics they had here were for winter sports like ice-skating, snow-skiing, snowboarding and such."

Lyndy responded, "That would have been fun to watch!" And Mitch agreed. Lyndy was particularly impressed with the giant Christmas tree in the amphitheater area.

Mitch helped her get into her suit and get her ice skates on and then laced up his own. Lyndy had really improved since the last time they'd skated. Mitch was impressed with her quick learning and agility on the ice, and as their time on the ice progressed, people around them were starting to notice how well they skated together. Lyndy was obviously having a wonderful time which meant Mitch was too. He finally noticed the time and realized they needed to head home soon. He told Lyndy five more minutes, after which he helped her get her skates off and get out of her suit. They put all their things back in the truck, and Mitch suggested they get hot chocolate before they headed home. Lyndy asked, "With marshmallows?"

And Mitch said, "Always with marshmallows!" which brought laughter from both of them.

While they were warming up drinking their hot chocolate, Lyndy saw someone walking outside by the large window next to them with their dog. She reached over and touched Mitch's arm and asked, "Mitch, what kind of dog is that?"

He looked in the direction she was indicating and answered, "That's a Golden Retriever, Lyndy. Why do you ask?"

"It's so pretty! Look how shiny its coat is!"

"Yes, they are a very pretty breed," and Mitch took note of her fascination with the dog. It brought to mind a song he knew that he tucked away as an idea.

As they got back on the road, they sang several songs that Lyndy liked to help pass the time until Mitch noticed Lyndy was no longer joining in and had fallen asleep. For the rest of the ride home, he reviewed the day they'd had together and wondered in amazement at how much his life had changed in the last few months, such an unexpected blessing never imagined! 'What a huge turn my life took the day I bought Sapphire!'

By the time they got back to Heartland, it was almost dinner time. Lyndy began to rouse as they came through the gate. When they parked, she unbuckled herself and leaned over the seat to wrap her arms around Mitch's neck and said, "Thank you so much for this fun day, Mitch, and for teaching me how to skate better! And for the hot chocolate!" and she gave him a soft kiss on his cheek, which melted his heart.

"Sweetheart, you are so welcome! I'm so glad we could share it together!" and he patted her tiny hands with his very big one.

Amy heard them drive up and came out on the porch. Mitch helped Lyndy out of the truck, and when Lyndy saw Amy, she started talking 90 miles an hour about all they'd done. When they got inside, Mitch gave Lyndy the bag so she could show Amy the nativity and the ornament she'd made for her. Of course, Amy ooo'd and ah'd over them. Lyndy told her how Ginny had helped her sew the ornament and that it was supposed to "Mama and Mitch." Amy put the ornament in a safe place to save for the tree once they put it up, and Lyndy took the nativity to her room to set in a special place to enjoy.

Amy asked Mitch to stay for dinner. Having been away all day, Mitch gave a quick call to the ranch to check on things with Zeke and Charlie before he accepted.

After dinner and helping with dishes and being sure chores were completed, they got Lyndy to bed. She'd had such a big day that she was asleep the second her head hit the pillow. Mitch and Amy sat down on the couch to talk a little more about wedding plans. The rest of the household had retired for the evening. They decided to shoot for a date of April 15, as long as the venue they decided on was available. Amy expressed that she had been thinking about it and talking about it with Lyndy, and she for sure did want them to make their home at Saddle Road. She also said she'd really like for their wedding night to be in their new home, so she wasn't sure having the ceremony there would be the best idea. Mitch was elated that Amy seemed at peace with her decision and was especially pleased that she wanted their first night to be there. However, it also meant he had some additional planning to do.

They discussed what to do about a venue for the wedding. There were too many memories for both of them tied to Heartland to have it there. Amy had heard of one place she'd like them to check out, the Boundary Ranch. It would be about a 40-minute drive away, but she'd seen the Kiska Lodge online that looked like it just might be their style. The setting would be more outdoor-like, yet with the cover of the lodge so as not to have any added stress about the weather that time of year. They agreed to take a drive there on Monday to check it out.

Mitch wanted to ask Jack to be his best man, and of course, Amy would ask Lou to serve as her matron of honor. They'd ask Lyndy to be the flower girl and maybe Carson to be the ring-bearer, and Tim to walk Amy down the aisle. Amy said she'd also like to invite Shane to come, and perhaps he and Katie could be a groomsman and bridesmaid, if Mitch was ok with that? He agreed that of course he was, and he'd love to get to finally meet Shane. They needed to find out if Georgie and Quinn would be able to make it. If so, they'd ask them to also be a part of the wedding party. And they wanted to secure a minister to perform the ceremony. They talked about asking Jessica to be their photographer and decided they should discuss it with her. They didn't want her to feel obligated, neither did they want her to have to miss out on just being relaxed at the wedding without the added pressure of taking pictures. But they also didn't want her to feel slighted by not having been asked. They'd leave it up to her, and if she preferred to just attend, perhaps she'd have a suggestion for a photographer. They had a lot of questions to ask people the next day! Amy could already tell she was going to need to enlist Lisa's and Lou's help, but past experience told her she'd need to keep them reined in. Somehow, Amy felt more confident about doing that this time.

Mitch let Amy know that his parents had accepted their invitation for Christmas, and he also mentioned Ginny's request about attending a Christmas Eve service. Amy suggested that there might be one at the community church where Lou & Peter's and Caleb & Cass' weddings had been. He told her about Ginny telling Lyndy the baby Jesus story when they put together the nativity, and he shared with her how it had been a tradition when growing up for his mom to always retell the story for him at Christmas. Amy was touched by this, and she was beginning to realize that Doc and Ginny had a deep faith. It explained even more the character that she saw in Mitch. She asked, "Mitch, would you like us to go to the service with your parents? I've never attended one, but I'm not averse to us going with them. Lyndy might really enjoy going, too."

He thought for a moment with hesitation before he replied, "I think it would be good if we went with them. It's just that I've had a struggle with my faith after all I saw in Afghanistan and after Zach's suicide. But yes, I think we should go with them. Will you find out for sure about the service and the time?"

"I'd be happy to call and find out."

"You know, Mom and Dad might be able to ask the minister from their church to perform our ceremony. He knows me because I attended with them a few times while I was finishing school. Would you be ok with that?"

"Mitch, I think that would be wonderful to have someone who actually knows you."

"Ok, I'll talk to them about it."

It was getting late, and Mitch knew he needed to let Amy get to bed. He was also a bit bushed after the full day he'd had with Lyndy. Amy walked him out, and they both couldn't stop smiling as they walked arm in arm realizing they were really beginning to plan their future together.

As Mitch drove home, he thought about how easily they'd been able to talk about his parents' faith and where he was with his. He felt a bit lighter, as he'd not shared how he was feeling about that with anyone else before now. He didn't know where it might lead, but he was really glad he'd been able to be that honest with her, and that she'd seemed open to talking about it. He found himself being especially thankful for the ease of their relationship. He knew he'd been given a very special gift!

A/N: *Ornament, **Nativity, ***Gingerbread House, ****Olympic Plaza – A link and pictures will be posted on the following three Facebook groups: Kevin McGarry Fan Page Home of #McGarries and SuspendersUnbuttoned Podcast; Nathan Grant Fanfiction! Home of Sunday Night Serge; and The Heartie Analyzers: All things Kevin McGarry, KEVLA and WCTH.