Disclaimer: I do not own anything !
A/N: I am so sorry this is coming to you guys so late between work, and a little thing called life (my bad sorry) well i hope it was worth the wait. Thank you to Hippogriff-Tamer for betaing this for me.\
Chapter 2
A month had gone by and still there was no word as to when Alice and Neil would be back. Christy tried not to fret overly much and was actually glad the children had had the foresight to get her the puppy. (A/N the puppy had been her wedding gift from the children *see chapter 10 of Choices*)Patches had been a godsend in the time he had been gone. The small puppy had taken her mind off the fact that her husband was gone with her antics which never failed to make her laugh. She also found comfort in knowing that she had a part of Neil with her all the time. Laying her hand on her still flat abdomen she found herself talking the the baby almost on a daily basis.
Staring out at the now darkening sky she decided to lock up before heading to bed. Calling the puppy to her they made their way up to the bedroom and Patches jumped up onto the bed and lay at her mistresses feet.
The following morning as she opened the door to let the puppy out she saw a rider coming toward the cabin. She froze and Patches sensing her mistresses distress came up to her standing protectively in front of her, a growl forming in the back of her throat.
The rider looked up and Christy nearly fainted on the spot but managed to catch herself as she went running forward. Patches following close behind.
Neil jumped off the horse and gathered his wife up into his arms. He had missed her so much in the past month. He nearly laughed at the way the puppy the children had gotten her on their wedding day growled at him.
"Neil, I missed you so much. I am so glad your back," she cried
"I missed you to Lass. I see your puppy has gotten quite protective of you," he laughed.
"Yes, she has," she answered with a laugh of her own before bending down to gather the puppy up into her arms. "Now, Patches you shouldn't growl at your master, it isn't nice," she chided the puppy as she stroked her sleek fur.
Patched barked before taking in the scent of the man in front of her mistress. Recognizing it she nearly jumped from Christy's arms into Neil's. They both laughed at the small dogs antics before heading into the house.
"How have you been, Lass?" he asked as soon as they were inside.
"I've been fine. The children have all come by to check up on me before heading home for the night and John and Zady come and walk with me to school each morning. I certainly haven't been lonely at least not when they're around but it's hard to sleep at night," she confessed.
Neil could understand her last statement well enough. Even though he had been gone a month he had gotten little to no sleep. The epidemic had been stopped but he missed holding his wife while he slept so sleep had not come easy for him.
Christy looked at her husbands' tired face and almost ordered him to bed. He laughed as she stood before him hands on her hips nearly demanding that he get some sleep. "Oh, I will go to sleep if you join me, Christy," he answered pulling her towards him. He caressed her face noticing the dark circles beneath her eyes a sure sign she had not been sleeping well either. She nodded and followed him up the stairs.
CN
That night they sat in front of the fire, her head resting on his shoulder. He smiled as he gently rubbed her flat stomach neither of them saying anything.
The silence was broken by a knock on the door. Neil went to answer it and was not all that surprised to see several of the children there.
"Oh, howdy, Doc. We didn't knows you were back," Little Burl said.
"Little Burl is that you?" Christy called having recognized the small boys voice.
"Yes, um. Just came by to see ifn you was alright, Teacher."
"Thank you, Little Burl. So who all came to see me tonight?" she smiled as she asked from the small sofa.
"Wells there's me, Mountie, and Creed, Teacher."
"I see, so would you three like to come in? I think I still have some pie left over," she said and knew that the children would jump at the chance.
"Really!"
"Yes, now come in before it starts to rain," Neil said as he looked at the sky seeing lightening in the distance.
"You three did tell your parents where you were going right?" Christy asked having been stuck in the cabin with a few of the children before because of a thunderstorm and they had not told their parents where they were going. It just so happened that their parents had figured out where their children must have gone off to and ended up at her door right after the storm had past on. She had then told the children the following day at school that if they came to see her at home then they had to promise to tell their parents where they were heading off to first just in case something like that happened again. The children had agreed to do just that.
"Yes," they chorused just as a clap of thunder was heard.
"Well, it looks like you three are stuck here until the storm passes and then Doctor MacNeil will take you home, alright," She said handing each of them a plate. The puppy yapping happily at the children as they ate.
The children sat at the table and silently ate while Neil and Christy stayed talking in the living room. As soon as the storm passed Neil took each of the children home as promised.
CN
The rest of the month was spent in relatively the same way. The children continued to come see her at home even though Neil was once again home. She figured it had become habit to them and so allowed it to continue. Neil thought that it was sweet the way the children of the Cove doted on his wife. He knew that they loved her and that they were not looking forward to the new teacher who would be arriving in the next few weeks.
"Christy, do you know when the new teacher will be here?" he asked one evening after she had returned home.
"We got a letter today saying that Sarah should be arriving at the end of next week," She answered setting down her satchel and leaning into his arms for a kiss.
"I wonder if she will be anything like you?" he chuckled, remembering exactly how Christy had shown up in the Cove.
"I guess we will just have to wait and see, now won't we," she quipped.