Christy could not wipe the smile from her face as she stood in the nursery doorway. David was rocking their daughter back and forth, her pink blanket draping down his arm to his waist. He was singing softly, a song about fairies that he was making up off the top of his head. But the thing that filled her heart with the most joy was the smile on David's face as he stood there gazing down at the tiny bundle in his arms. Elizabeth's fist clung to his collar, and neither of them looked as if they would let each other go for all of the gold in the world. Tears welled up in her eyes. Her dreams had come true. David loved her more than she had ever really believed that he did. He loved this baby that was not his by blood, but whom he would raise until she was old enough to make her own way in life. He had sacrificed everything for them, but he would never see it that way. He would always see it as gaining the world.

David had never left her side, even when she had wavered. When she had fallen, he had picked her up. When she had cried, he had held her. He had celebrated her victories, and helped her cope with her losses. He loved every fiber of her, and no matter how long they had together in this life, it would never be long enough. He would follow her anywhere, do anything for her, and love her endlessly for as long as she lived. Thinking back to that afternoon in front of the schoolhouse, Neil and David waiting for her to decide their fate, she knew without a doubt that she had made the right choice. David was meant for her, and she was meant for him.

Christy stepped toward him, smiling as she placed her hand on David's arm and stood on her tiptoes to peer down at their little girl. She looked up at David's beaming face and smiled softly.

"David?" She asked.

"Yes, darling?" He looked at her.

"Thank you for loving me. Thank you for never giving up on me. Thank you for being the man I love."

David grinned, bent down to place Elizabeth in her cradle, and then took Christy's once again slender frame in his arms.

"Christy, I knew. I saw all of this in my mind that first moment I laid eyes on you. I knew. I always knew. You're the one. You're my dream come true. You're it. This…" He looked down at Elizabeth and then back to Christy. "This is it."

Christy nodded, closing her eyes as David's lips captured hers. As she melted into her husband's arms, she knew without a single doubt that she'd follow him anywhere and do anything and everything for him. This was it. This was everything.

In the years to come, Christy never forgot the grace and love of God that was shown all through Cutter Gap in the years following that day her life was forever changed. She had seen it all crumble around her in one horrible, cruel, selfish act, but God had not let go of her hand. He'd set her feet on the solid rock and though the world crumbled around her, she was not torn down or thrown away. In those years following, she'd learned what it meant to be held.

Margaret and Neil's dreams came true in early summer when their twins, Corrine Alice Mae MacNeill and Elijah James MacNeill joined the world. Alice and Neil were at Margaret's side the entire time, and everything went smoothly. They deserved as much after everything they had been through. When David and Christy visited them in their new cabin one week after the twins' arrival, Christy noticed with great joy that there was not an ounce of darkness within the walls of the MacNeill household. She watched Neil's face as he showed Christy his son, and saw all of the peace, happiness and the pride that covered it. The once deep lines of the years of pain and frustration had faded. Christy grinned and looked down to the dark-haired boy in her friend's arms, knowing that everything was just as it should be.

Their children grew up into toddlers. Elizabeth's spirit was gentle and caring, and a smile endlessly graced the little girl's face. She could melt her father's heart with one look at him with her big blue eyes. She spent a lot of time with the MacNeill twins. Elijah held both of his parents' stubborn streaks and protected his twin sister against everything and everyone. Corrine was a bundle of energy, her long red hair with the perfect curls on the ends was the most people saw of her as she flew past them onto her next adventure. Her personality made up for Elizabeth's laid-back and quiet side, and the two girls made a tight bond. Both the MacNeill family and Grantland family spent endless hours together.

Alice Henderson was as wonderful a grandmother as she was everything else. She had a boundless amount of love and smiles to pass out to the children, and Elizabeth was as much her grandchild as were Elijah and Corrine. Alice and Margaret's relationship never completely flourished, but the two of them were able to become good friends. They had a mutual acceptance of what they were and put their past behind them.

Daniel and his wife moved West after one year in Cutter Gap. Daniel's internship with Neil had come to an end, and after Neil had taught him everything he knew, Daniel sought out building his own practice in a small town in Kansas. Though he was never fully received by everyone, he found peace and was able to win over the hearts of every life he touched and saved. He stayed in contact with both Neil and with Alice, updating him on his successes, frustrations, and growing family.

The year Elizabeth turned three, Christy found that her own family was about to grow. She never could get over the elated look on David's face when she told him. She'd told him that his face was going to be stuck in a permanent grin, and he'd laughed and told her that it had been since the day she'd agreed to marry him. The grin on his face grew when she brought their son into the world that October. Aaron Michael Grantland was a spitting image of his handsome father and as Christy placed him into David's arms for the first time, she was sure her heart would burst at the seams from all of the love and happiness that burned within. She was proved wrong when Victoria Grace made them a family of five the following year, two months after Christy's father passed away.

That was also the year that Ruby Mae and Rob Allen married and moved to Ashville. Before his passing, Christy's father helped Rob establish a job and pursue his writing career. Christy was elated to see two of her first students break free from Cutter Gap and flourish as they flew off into the world. Nothing brought more joy to her heart than seeing those children that had first kept her in Cutter Gap grow and flourish.

Margaret and Neil never had any more children, but between the twins, they had their hands completely full anyway. Neil and Margaret became an important pillar in the church, sharing the load that David and Christy found in leading the people of Cutter Gap and the surrounding communities in their faith.

As had always been predicted, the world did not forever stay away from Cutter Gap. Things changed; some for the better, some for the worst. A real and accessible road came into Cutter Gap, allowing for better access outside the mountains. It also brought more people, and Christy watched as the Cutter Gap she had first walked into slowly faded into a more modern and updated era. She realized at times that not all improvements were really improvements at all, and she desperately wished that she could go back in time and warn the idealist nineteen year old Christy of what the things she was pushing to change would lead to. Neil had told her the dangers of it then, and she hadn't listened. At times she still wondered what would have happened if she and everyone else at the mission had simply left Cutter Gap alone. On those days of despair, all it took was a visit with Mountie O'Teal to remind her why she had come. She'd come for the children; to give them a voice, a chance, and a brighter future. As she watched the newest school teacher play with the children at recess, she knew that without the mission and Alice, David, Neil, and her presence, the world still would have come to Cutter Gap. They had been placed there to ease the transition. They'd done God's work.

As their roles at the mission slowly faded away, Christy and David packed up their family when Victoria was four and went to start a new church in a nearby mining town. She at times felt that they were starting completely over, but knew that their time in Cutter Gap had all along been preparing them for this. They visited from time to time with their friends in Cutter Gap, and Christy never stopped longing for the place she would always think of as her real home in the world. Not all of the visits were pleasant. The first sad visit was to Fairlight's funeral. David and Christy made the trip with the children. The loss of Fairlight cut deeply into Christy's heart, and it took David, Alice, Neil and Margaret to bring her out of that despair. When they returned to their new home, Christy submerged completely into the work of organizing bible studies, quilting groups, Sunday school classes, and being a wife and mother. Slowly the deep grief was lessened as she did the things that fulfilled her heart.

Time continued to pass, the children grew, and Christy and David's hair became streaked with gray strands. Elizabeth pursed her own dreams of being involved in medicine and research like her uncle Neil, and she dived wholeheartedly into her studies. David's mother passed away, and Christy's did too, two years later. Christy knew the day would come when she'd have to say goodbye to the other woman who had become her mother. On a warm September afternoon, a letter from Neil arrived in the mail, bringing the news Christy had always known would eventually come but was still completely unprepared for. Alice had passed away in her sleep.

"Come home, Christy," the letter in Neil's handwriting read. "Cutter Gap needs you. Come home."

Christy and David packed quickly, leaving their teenage children in charge of the church, and made their way back to Cutter Gap. Elizabeth was unable to leave school for the time it would take to make the trip and attend the funeral, but Christy assured her that Alice would not have wanted her to anyway. Instead Christy and David made the trip alone. Neil met them at the station, enfolding both of them in warm hugs.

"How's Margaret doing?" Christy asked. "The children?"

"Margaret is taking it better than I expected. She's being so strong. Elijah is the same way. Corrine seems to be deeply heartbroken. She was so close to Alice."

Christy nodded.

"How are you doing?" David asked.

Neil ran a hand over his face, shaking his head and red curls that were sprinkled with gray. Tears pooled in his eyes and Christy covered his hand with her own hand. "I…I… How do you say goodbye to Alice Henderson? I loved that woman. She was a thorn in my side from the moment I met her, but we went through so much during those years when we were struggling with Margaret. I leaned on Alice more than I ever admitted. She was the only one who ever really saw completely through me. She told me things about myself I hadn't even admitted yet."

"She was good at seeing those things," David agreed.

Neil nodded. "She was an incredible lady. This is hard."

Christy squeezed his hand, tears coursing down her face. "She was really something special."

Two days after the funeral, David and Christy explored Cutter Gap. So many things had changed. The mission had been rebuilt and added onto. New buildings and homes replaced old ones. But as they stepped into the clearing, smiles covered both of their faces. The old school building still stood. They stepped into it, David's arm around Christy's waist. Nothing had changed inside, and they were both immediately taken back to the memories of years before.

"David…" Christy whispered, looking around in awe.

"I know. It's just like we left it."

She closed her eyes, smiling. "It feels as though it was all yesterday. All of the laughter, the love, the voices; I can still hear and feel it all."

"So can I..." David inhaled deeply, taking it all in.

"I never want to lose this. I never want to forget. This is where we came from. This is where it all began."

David pressed his lips to her forehead. "This is where our love blossomed."

She nodded, opening her eyes to look at him. "I wouldn't change a thing if I had a chance. Nothing."

He reached up and ran a hand down her cheek, his eyes full of love. "Nor would I. It wasn't perfect. It was really hard. But it was good."

"So good," She agreed.

"I love you, Christy."

Christy giggled like she was nineteen again. "I love you, David."

They spent several more minutes inside, talking, remembering, praying for the future and thanking God for the past. When they finally made their way outside once more, Christy spotted something small and red on the steps. She stopped and bent to pick it up, a gasp coming out of her at the discovery of an autumn leaf, just like the one Miss Alice had handed her during their first conversation in Cutter Gap. She stood there, holding it between her fingers and remembering. Suddenly she was back their again, standing in front of the school house with Alice, listening to her wise words.

"Miss Huddleston, are you certain you are strong enough for this task?" Alice questioned with gentleness.

"No," Christy admitted. "All I can do is try… I probably seem very young and innocent to you."

Alice smiled with hidden amusement. "Very… Thee also seem determined, and truthful. Those are important qualities."

Christy listened closely, waiting for the woman to continue.

"Teaching here will not be easy. It will be the hardest thing thee has ever tried." Alice then handed Christy a small red leaf. "Hold onto joy. Joy is a great gift. Thee will need it."

Now, holding the leaf in her hands, Christy looked out over the mountains. They had brought such hardship, but more than anything they had brought her joy. She had clung to it and thrived from it. She had been shaped and molded by it. She had learned what it meant to truly love. Though time passed, things changed, and people came and faded away, she'd never forget all the things she learned, the joys she had held onto, and those that she had loved beneath the reverent shadows of the Great Smokies.