Author's Note: Well, it's official. WCTH has gone completely off the rails. I hope this story offers some healing to the broken hearts of LucaBeth fans who did not get the season they were hoping for in S10.

Chapter Three: Love Means Everything

'Well, it's official,' Elizabeth wrote in her journal, 'I am going to be Mrs. Lucas Bouchard. Lucas has asked me to marry him, and I have, of course, said "yes".'

With a soft smile she glanced at her left hand which rested on the corner of her notebook, her eyes drawn to the beautiful diamond sparkling there. She would never forget the moment he got down on one knee and in a tone full of emotion asked if she would allow him to be a father to her son and agree to be his wife. The love and earnestness in his eyes had made her heart beat wildly in her chest as she had eagerly replied, "Yes. Yes, to it all." Then after Lucas had kissed her and impulsively swung her around in his joy, she couldn't help but laugh at Jack's eager question of "Did we do it, buddy?" and then his joyous 'Yah!' when Lucas had confirmed they did.

She glanced at Jack who was playing contentedly on the floor nearby, her heart filling with love as she watched him. Lucas was going to make him such a wonderful father. The two of them already shared a strong bond. It was very clear that they adored each other and that there was nothing that Lucas wouldn't do for Jack; he clearly loved the boy as much as he would his own child.

After another moment's pause, Elizabeth turned her attention back to her journal and wrote,

'And he couldn't have done it in a sweeter way. What really touched me the most was that he included Little Jack in his proposal - not only in what he said but also by having Jack pass me the ring. I will never forget his words: "Allow me to be a father to your son and agree to be my wife. Elizabeth, will you marry me?' Of course, I responded "yes'" How could I not? Lucas is the sweetest, most patient man I have ever met, and I love him more than I ever thought possible.'

Elizabeth paused in her writing as a memory surfaced from a few months ago. It was from the time that Lucas' motorcycle had broken down during a race he had had with Nathan. She had been waiting for him by the gas station and had given him a glass of lemon water to drink. As they sat on the steps of the gas station, Lucas had told her that she was 'his adventure, that she was his passion' and that if they should marry, he would hurry home to her every night and he would have to pull himself from her every morning. Her heart had soared at his words, and she had immediately vowed the same thing to him. That had been the first time that either one of them had mentioned marriage and while at first the thought of marrying again had made her nervous, she now had to admit to feeling a certain excitement to finally having the opportunity to fulfill the promises they had exchanged that evening.

Her mind then conjured up another memory, one from the night that Lucas had hidden out at her place while hiding from Walden. She had gotten a small taste of what life with him would be like. She, Jack, and Lucas had eaten dinner and celebrated her birthday, and then after Jack had gone to sleep, she and Lucas had talked long into the night about various things. The things she had learned about Lucas' upbringing had almost broken her heart. He had been alone for so much of his life, yearning for a family and a feeling of connection and love. Elizabeth desperately wanted to provide those things for him. To help him fulfill his dream the way he had helped her fulfill hers.

She glanced towards the copy of her book that sat on the edge of her desk. She still found it hard to believe that she was a published author. Lucas had helped her so much when it came to fulfilling that dream. True, it hadn't been as easy nor as glamorous as she had always expected, but all the hard work and rewrites had been worth it. She had accomplished something that she had always dreamed of, and Lucas had been by her side the entire time to cheer her on.

Next her eyes fell on the picture of Lucas, Jack, and her taken at Hope Valley Days a few weeks ago and a soft smile formed on her lips. What a beautiful family they made.

'You ever considered a fall wedding?'

She smiled as she remembered how surprised she had been by Lucas' question as the three of them sat together beside the bonfire. After Lucas had said he was merely curious she had soon countered with her own question,

'Have you ever considered a spring wedding?'

"I wonder which one we'll have," Elizabeth mused dreamily as her mind left the past and started to drift into the future, imaging what her wedding with Lucas would be like.

"You happy, Mama?"

Little Jack's sudden question brought her back to the present and to the little boy who was standing at her knee, looking up at her with a big smile on his face.

Reaching down she picked up her son and placed him on her knee, hugging him to her.

"Yes, sweetheart. Mama is very happy."

"Buddy and me make you happy?" He pressed eagerly.

Elizabeth's smile grew as she remembered Jack's question to Lucas after she had accepted Lucas' proposal and his excitement when he had learned that he and his buddy had been successful in their endeavour.

Hugging the young boy even tighter she said, "Yes, you and Buddy made Mama very happy. I love you so much, Sweetheart."

"Love you Mama," Jack said as he wiggled around so he could throw his arms around her neck and hug her tightly.

Then curious, Elizabeth asked the little boy, "So what did Lucas tell you he was going to do today?"

"He told me that he had a 'portant question to ask you and he wanted me to give you the ring when he did this…" Jack then lifted one finger, then a second, then a third.

Elizabeth frowned for a moment as she remarked, "But I didn't see him do that."

"That's because he did this." Jack scrambled off her lap and held his little hand down beside his leg and then pointed down towards the ground with one finger, then two, then three.

Elizabeth laughed and pulled Jack back onto her knee and into a big hug. "You are such a smart boy to help Lucas like you did."

"Mama," Jack said as he pulled away after a moment.

"Yes, sweetheart." She looked at him and noticed a slight frown on his face.

"Is Buddy going to be my daddy?"

Elizabeth hesitated for a moment, remembering the gasp she had heard from Jack when Lucas had mentioned being a father to him. Keeping her arms around him she confirmed, "Yes, Lucas is going to be your daddy."

"But what about my other daddy?" he asked with a hint of confusion in his tone.

Elizabeth paused for a moment, trying hard to figure out how to explain things to her almost four-year-old son. Finally, she said, "Because your other daddy can't be with us anymore, Lucas has offered to be your new daddy. He wants to help you, and love you, and do all sorts of things with you that daddies usually do. Would you like that?"

Jack frowned for a moment. "I'll have two daddies?"

"Yes, I guess you will," Elizabeth said seriously. "You will have a daddy who helped me make you and now you'll have a daddy who'll help me raise you."

Jack continued to frown before asking, "Will my new daddy be 'Buddy' or 'New Daddy'?"

"He'll be both," she told him, trying desperately hard to think of how to explain all this to him. "He will be your new daddy and your buddy."

Jack's frown deepened indicating she was not solving the problem he was having. Finally, he exclaimed in mild exasperation. "What do I call him?"

Realization dawned on Elizabeth. "What do you want to call him?"

Little Jack shrugged. "He's my buddy but he's my new daddy. But he's not my old daddy."

Elizabeth pressed her lips together thoughtfully for a moment before she finally had an idea. "You call me 'Mama'. Do you want to call Lucas 'Papa'?"

Jack looked thoughtful for a moment as he repeated, "Papa. Mama. Papa."

Just then a knock on the door interrupted their little moment.

Jack eagerly scrambled off her lap and ran for the door, struggling to turn the knob in his excitement. He finally managed to get the door open as Elizabeth reached him.

"Papa!" the little boy cried with open arms before wrapping his arms around Lucas' leg.

Elizabeth couldn't help laughing when she saw a stunned-looking Lucas standing on the other side of the door, a large hamper in one hand, and his other pressed against the back of the toddler who was attached to his leg and grinning up at him.

"Well, isn't this a wonderful welcome," Lucas said after he recovered from Jack's unexpected greeting. Smiling down at the boy and then up at Elizabeth he said, "I could get used to this."

She gave him a tender smile as she remarked, "You're going to have to."

"I can't wait," he whispered in a husky tone.

Elizabeth invited him in, and Jack grabbed his hand and led him to the table where Lucas placed the large hamper of food. The smells that filled the air when he opened the lid made Elizabeth's mouth water. She hadn't realized how hungry she was.

"That smells good!" Little Jack pronounced as he climbed up on his chair. "Let's eat."

Lucas and Elizabeth exchanged a look of amusement before they both set to work putting the food, plates, and utensils on the table.

"Gustave really outdid himself," Elizabeth said as she saw the variety of dishes laid out on the table. "Did he think he was feeding an army?"

Lucas chuckled. "He wanted to make this meal special in celebration of our engagement."

"That was very kind of him," Elizabeth remarked as she put some food on a plate for Jack. "Do you think he would be willing to cater our wedding?"

"I think he would be insulted if we didn't ask him to cater our wedding," Lucas replied as he served her. "And I think he'll be willing to make the cake too."

Suddenly Elizabeth's head started to spin with the thought of everything that they needed to do in preparation for the big day. A memory of the chaos that had ensued just before her wedding to Jack suddenly made her shudder.

"Are you okay?" Lucas asked with obvious concern, his hand landing on her arm.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she assured him with a smile. "I was just remembering everything that is involved in planning and organizing a wedding."

"There can't be that much," Lucas said with a slight frown. "Can there?"

Elizabeth gave him an amused look as she lifted her right hand and began enumerating, "Food, cake, flowers, dress, tuxedo, matron of honour, best man, officiant, wedding dates, invitations, guests, ceremony, reception…"

She stopped when she saw Lucas' jaw drop a bit at her long list. "I had no idea how much went into planning a wedding."

Elizabeth smiled at him as she reached over and gave his hand a squeeze. "Don't worry. We'll take it one step at a time."

Lucas nodded and turned his hand to hold hers. "OK, step one. When would you like to get married?"

Elizabeth thought about it for a moment before shrugging. "I guess I don't really have a preference. What about you? You had mentioned a fall wedding before."

"Fall is a beautiful season," he remarked with a nod. "Unfortunately, if we went with a fall wedding it would probably be next fall as it would be far too rushed to get things ready for this fall."

"Unless we eloped," she teased gently.

Lucas gave her an amused smile. "As much as I would love to marry you tomorrow, I think we'd disappoint our families if we just eloped."

Elizabeth sighed. "You're right, of course. And I don't want to deprive you of a formal wedding with all the trimmings."

"The biggest thing I'm waiting for is to see you walk down the aisle in your beautiful dress and then agree to love me for the rest of your life," Lucas admitted a bit shyly.

Elizabeth covered their joined hands with her free one and gave them a squeeze. "I promise right now to love you and cherish you for the rest of our lives." Then giving him a tender look, she quoted, "When we marry, I will rush home to you every night and have to pull myself from you every morning. That I promise."

A soft smile formed on Lucas' lips as he echoed, "And when we marry, I will rush home to you every night and have to pull myself from you every morning. That I promise." Then leaning forward, he kissed her lovingly.

The couple pulled apart when they heard Jack give a little giggle.

"Papa kiss Mama," the little boy said with delight causing Lucas and Elizabeth to chuckle in amusement.