"Jack, where are you!"

Tom tried to keep the panic out of his voice. He was a Mountie now. Searching for lost children was part of his job. Except that this wasn't just a child - this was his nephew. Still, he tried to tell himself that Jack was probably just playing hide and seek. He remembered how much he enjoyed the game when he was a child. He even remembered scaring his older brother a few times when Jack had been told to watch him.

"Is this pay back?" Tom asked quietly, looking up at the sky. He swore he heard his older brother's laughter in his ears as he looked around him again. He had only turned his head for a few seconds.

I was right there when I last saw him, Tom recalled mentally, as he looked toward the place where he had been standing. Jack was standing by that tree. As I was looking south, I know he didn't wander in that direction, he continued as he recalled his training in the Academy for searching for a missing person - establish the facts about the last sighting and determine a search area from those facts.

Walking over to where Jack had been seen last, Tom examined the area. Noticing some small light indents in the hard snow along with a couple of broken branches, Tom headed into the woods at that point. As he walked through the brush, he looked for the dark green hat and mittens Jack was wearing.

Tom hadn't gone far when there was a sudden movement ahead of him.

"Boo!" Jack cried out, as he hopped from behind a tree trunk and immediately dissolved into a fit of giggles.

Tom felt a wave of relief crash over him at the sight of the little boy. The giggles said that for Jack it had all been a game. For Tom though, it had been one of the worst moments of his life. He had been in plenty of trouble over the years, but the thought of telling Elizabeth that he had lost her son made all those incidences seem inconsequential. Even the latest mess that had landed him at the Mountie Academy in the first place.

Scooping Jack up into his arms, Tom held the boy tightly against him. "Don't ever scare me like that again, Jack," he told the boy.

"Scare you?" Jack asked, an inquisitive look on his face.

"Yes, you did. And not with the boo part either," Tom informed his nephew as he turned and headed back to the road they had been walking along. "Don't wander off like that again, Jack. The adults in your life need to know where you are."

"Yes, Uncle Tom," Jack replied, reaching up and patting his uncle's cheek. "I'm sorry. I won't play hide and seek without permission again."

"Giving out advice you never followed yourself?" a gruff voice asked as Tom stepped back onto the road.

Tom groaned. The voice was one of the last ones he wanted to hear right now.

A frown came to the five-year-old's face. "Don't you like Uncle Bill?" Jack asked.

Tom felt heat around his collar. He just hoped his cheeks weren't showing the reaction.

"Your Uncle Tom and I have a complicated relationship, Jack," Bill said, a hint of amusement now replacing the gruffness. "However, he is slowly starting to change my opinion of him. You handled looking for a missing child well."

"You saw that?" Tom asked.

"I wasn't missing! I was playing hide-and-seek!" Jack said, a clear insistence in his voice.

"Of course you were," Bill replied, still astride Hero. "But did your Uncle Tom know that."

Jack shook his head.

"I didn't think so. Nice job remembering you training."

"What were you doing, watching me?" Tom asked, indignation rising in him. Apparently even graduating the Academy hadn't proven to Bill that he had learned anything.

"Sort of," Bill replied, not about to hide his actions from anyone. "I heard you calling for Jack when I came around the bend down there," he said, nodding his head in the direction he had come from, "I noticed you looking around. I was curious to see your reaction. I didn't plan on letting it go on for too long, but you did exactly what you needed to do."

"Thanks," Tom said, knowing that was a much praise as he was likely to get from the former Mountie.

"Remember though, kids are like criminals. They will disappear the moment you take your eyes off them," Bill advised with a wry smile. Looking at Jack he waved. "Don't give your Uncle Tom too much of a hard time, Jack."

"I won't," Jack said. "Bye, Uncle Bill," he added as Bill signaled Hero to move forward and continue on their way.

Tom looked at his nephew. "What do you say we head back to your house and play with Nate?" he asked. Surely, he would be able to keep a better eye on the kid inside.

"Let's go!" Jack exclaimed, squirming to be put down.

Tom put the boy down before he dropped him. Anticipating the kid scurrying off, Tom was ready to follow him. As he jogged after the little boy, Tom was thankful for all the time he had spent running at the Academy.


As she moved through the house, Elizabeth found herself recalling memories out loud to Nathan. Her husband walked beside her, one of her hands enveloped reassuringly in his. His sympathy wasn't offered in words but in the gentle changes of pressure in his grasp.

Coming back downstairs, Elizabeth recalled the fall and the loss of her last child. Her free hand went to her stomach. She was starting to show, just like she had been back then. However, there was no secrecy with this pregnancy. Everyone knew about it, and everyone was celebrating.

"You were right, Nathan," Elizabeth said as they stepped from the stairs onto the main floor of the house. "Not wanting to tell Lucas about the baby should have been my wake-up call in the relationship. Bill, Rosemary and Lee would have helped me out of the situation. I should have accepted one of their offers for help, but I let my pride get in the way. I didn't want to admit that I had chosen wrong. Not after I hurt so many people."

"Pride can be a hard thing to overcome, Elizabeth," Nathan told her. He reached for her other hand and stepped in front of her. "The important thing is you did finally see how toxic the situation was. No matter how we got here, we did find one another. We have two beautiful children and a love that will endure over the years."

Elizabeth smiled up at him. "Don't you mean three children," she teased him gently. "We might not know who he or she is, but they are still our child."

"You're right," Nathan said. He pulled her gently toward him, and Elizabeth went willingly. She basked in the safety she felt as he wrapped his arms around her, holding her against him. "I am blessed to have three children and a lovely wife, and I am not about to question why we all had to endure what we did to get here. We're together now, and the is what is important."

Once again, Elizabeth felt as if she was forgiven. The difference was that this time she started to think that perhaps it was time that she began to forgive herself as well. Yes, she had made mistakes, but she had also endured the consequences of those mistakes. She had asked for and received forgiveness for her transgressions. It was time to let go of the regrets and to embrace the present and future with this wonderful man who had been there for her in her darkest hour.

With her arms around Nathan's waist, she lifted herself up on her tip toes. "I am very lucky and grateful that you are my husband, Nathan Grant. I love you," she told him softly before pressing her lips against his. This would be another of the few happy memories she had from being in this house. But perhaps now that the house was home to Frank, Edward and their charges, more happy memories would fill these walls.


Arriving back at his sister-in-law's home, Tom found it empty. He helped Jack shed and hang up his winter garments even as Muffin tried to lend his puppy help as well. Despite the dog, the task was soon done, and Jack went to retrieve the duck from his crate.

"Dad says we will need to put Nate outside again soon," Jack said as Tom followed him through the house. "He says it will be warm enough."

"It will," Tom said. "He'll be happier outside, and he'll have the house and the pond you all built for him to enjoy."

"I hope he doesn't fly away," Jack said, giving the duck a hug before putting him down on the floor. Not wanting to be left out, Muffin hurried forward and jumped up at him. Jack giggled, sitting down and accepting doggie kisses from her. "At least Muffin can't fly away," he added.

But he can run away, Tom thought but refrained from voicing it. Why give the boy something to worry about.

By the time the front door opened, Nate and Muffin were curled up in the dog bed napping together while Jack snuggled against his uncle's side as Tom read from his favorite book. That was how Elizabeth found them when she stepped through the door.

"I hope I didn't keep you waiting for us too long," Elizabeth said, as she took off her hat and gloves.

Tom shook his head. "We didn't set a time, and I didn't have anything else to do today," he told her. "Where did you go?"

"I went with Nathan to deliver the bed frame to the youth home," Elizabeth replied, looking down at the buttons she was undoing.

Tom knew the significance of that statement. "How are you?" he asked quietly.

As she undid the last button, Elizabeth looked up. "I feel like I am ready to put my past behind me and embrace the present," she replied.

Tom nodded. "That's good," he said, knowing exactly how she felt. He was trying to do just that himself, though sometimes he wondered if he would ever be able to.

"Did you two enjoy your adventures this afternoon?" Elizabeth asked, hanging her coat up and then walking toward where Tom and Jack were sitting.

Before Tom could speak up, Jack answered his mother. "I scared Uncle Tom by hiding from him, but I didn't mean to. I was just playing."

Tom felt the panic bubble up. "He was only out of my sight for like five minutes at the most, Elizabeth. I promise," he said, defensively.

To his surprise though, Elizabeth didn't get angry but laughed instead. "Let me guess, you turned your back for less than a minute and he had disappeared."

"Yeah," Tom said sheepishly.

"It has happened to me several times as well. I was a basket case the first time it happened, and Lee found Jack curled up in the chair in the back yard taking a nap. It's fine. You located him and Jack has an adventure to tell."

Tom let out a sigh of relief. "I thought you would tell me I could never watch him again."

Elizabeth shook her head. "Jack needs to be with you as much as he can. You can give him insight about his birth father that none of the rest of us can. Besides, I think the incident was more traumatic for you than him."

"I like hide and seek," Jack said, happily.

"I know you do," Elizabeth said, smiling down at her son. "Your Dad is out in the barn if you want to go help him care for the horses."

"Yes!" Jack said, slipping down from the couch and running for his coat.

"I'll make sure he gets there safely before I leave," Tom said, standing up.

"You aren't staying for supper?" Elizabeth asked him.

"Wasn't sure if I was invited or not."

Elizabeth walked over to her brother-in-law and placed a kiss on his cheek. "I promised Jack you would always have a seat at our table. That hasn't changed."

"Then I will go make myself helpful in the barn," Tom told her.

"All right. I should have time enough to get a casserole in the oven before my students arrive for their tutoring session."

As Elizabeth headed for the kitchen, Tom and Jack donned their coats and winter garments to head outside again.