Chapter 190- In Sickness and In Health

I probably should just go ahead and dedicate this chapter to heather4cu. We discovered on my Sunday Night Serge Zoom (almost two years ago) that we have a mutual love of the hurt/comfort trope and ever since Chapter 7 of 'So This Is Love', Heather has practically begged me to write a scene where Charlotte finally gets to take care of Nathan when he has a cold.

So, before I wrapped up Nate and Charlie's story (which I hope to finish posting by the S11 WCTH premiere in a few short weeks)- I knew I needed to write this sweet chapter full of Grant family domestic moments.

Hope it fulfills all your wishes, Heather.

"Al!" Charlotte called up the stairs. "Get a move on it. Your dad's getting ready to leave for town soon. Unless you want to walk to school, you better hurry."

"Don't you think she knows us well enough to call our bluff?" Nathan asked, coming up behind her from the direction of the kitchen, carrying Liam in his arms.

Charlotte groaned. "You're right. These last few days of the school year are brutal for getting Allie up and out of bed. One of us should probably go get her movin'."

Nathan raised Liam up so his son's bottom was even with his face. He took a big sniff and gave a grimace. "Well, would you smell that," he said. "It seems Liam needs his diaper changed. I should probably take care of this. Guess that leaves you on Allie duty."

Charlotte gave him an unamused look. "You're really choosing your son's dirty diaper over waking your daughter up?"

"Correction," Nathan said, raising a finger between them. "I'm choosing our son's dirty diaper over our daughter's teenage moodiness."

Charlotte clicked her tongue and shook her head side to side. "I didn't know if I'd ever see the day, Sarge."

"See what?"

"The day you'd waved the white flag in surrender."

"Nah." Nathan chuckled. "I'm not surrendering. Just pickin' my battles." He gave Charlotte a kiss on the cheek as he moved past to go change Liam in the other room. "Like any smart Mountie would."

Charlotte began her climb up the stairs. When she reached the top, she looked down the hallway, expecting to see Allie getting ready in the bathroom, but it was empty and didn't seem to be used since Charlotte was there earlier. How on earth is Allie still in bed? Charlotte thought. She really will be late for school at this point.

"Allie Maise Grant. Are you still asleep?" Charlotte knocked on the door to her daughter's room. "Come on sweetheart, I know it's hard with summer break just a few days away, but that doesn't mean that you can…"

Charlotte stopped the moment she heard a raspy cough come from the other side of the door. "Allie, are you…" She twisted the knob and pushed the door into Allie's room. "Sick?"

Another bone-shaking cough was all the answer Charlotte needed. She was instantly at Allie's side. Her daughter's pale face was almost lost in the folds of the comforter on her bed. She touched Allie's forehead and could tell instantly the girl had a slight fever.

"How long have you been like this?" Charlotte asked, brushing back the sweaty strands of Allie's hair from around her face.

Allie raised her tired, sunken eyes to Charlotte. "I don't know." She gave a slight shrug. "I wasn't feeling great last night, but I thought it was just because I was tired with all the end of the school year stuff. It wasn't until a little while ago that I started…" Another wave of coughing broke over the girl.

"Ssshhh… Ssshhhh…" Charlotte tried to comfort. "Well, I don't think you will be going to school today. Not with this fever and you feeling this way."

"Charlotte."

Charlotte twisted to see Nathan coming towards them, Liam in his arms, and a worried expression on his face.

"Do you think Liam feels warm?" He lowered their son towards her and in the process noticed Allie in bed, clearly under the weather as well. Once Liam was safely in his mother's arms, Nathan bent over the bed and felt Allie's head. "Oh no, not you too Al."

Nathan looked back at Charlotte. "Do you think they have the same thing?"

Charlotte felt Liam and agreed with Nathan. The boy was warm. Nothing as bad as Allie, but the start of something. His eyes were watery, and he seemed restless and uncomfortable compared to how he'd been when he first woke up. "Yeah. They could."

"Should we take them into the hospital and have the docs look at them?"

Charlotte looked out the window of Allie's room. It had been misty all morning, but it appeared to be coming down as a steady rain now. Droplets collected on the glass, falling in gentle streams down the pane.

"No. Not yet anyway," Charlotte said. "I don't want to take either of them outside with the weather like this and them not feeling well."

"What if I go into town and see if Faith or Carson is available for a house call. Just to be sure."

"I think that would be best."

Nathan didn't waste much time. The sooner he was able to get into town and tell Elizabeth Allie would not be at school, the sooner he could talk to the doctors, and the sooner he could return home to help Charlotte nurse Allie and Liam.

Even though Charlotte said she could manage taking care of them herself, Nathan didn't want her to face it alone. In the years he raised Allie as a single father, he knew all too well how draining it could be. How difficult it was to nurse a sick child. He could only imagine how much more challenging the task would be with two sick kids convalescing.

Elizabeth was ringing the school bell when Nathan pulled his car to a stop in front of the new schoolhouse. Seeing it was him from the doorway she smiled and waved. To Nathan, Elizabeth seemed a little lighter since giving them the blessing to use Jack's land for the summer camp. A sizeable monetary donation had been given to the cause from an anonymous donor, but most seemed to assume it was another gift from Mr. Thatcher in remembrance of his late son-in-law.

The town immediately set to work constructing the few initial buildings they felt were essential for the camp. A dining hall with an attached kitchen, a small stable for a few horses, and two bunk houses- one for the boys and a second for the girls- were already framed and would be easily finished in time for the children's arrival in Hope Valley towards the end of summer.

"Hello, Nathan," Elizabeth said, coming closer under the cover of an umbrella. She peeked over his shoulder and noted that he was alone. "Allie not with you this morning?"

"No. That's why I was stopping by. Seems as though our kids both have come down with a cold or something, so Allie won't be coming to school until she's feeling better. I was going to stop by and talk to Bill. See if he would cover my rounds while I stay home and help Charlotte take care of the kids."

"Oh…" Elizabeth kicked at a rock with the toe of her shoe. "That's very thoughtful of you."

"I'm just being a parent."

Elizabeth nodded her head and let the silence linger before saying. "You should know. When the school year ends in a few short days, I've decided to take a trip and do some traveling with Little Jack. I've realized recently how quickly he's growing up. Sometimes I feel I've blinked and missed so much of his childhood."

'It does seem to fly by," he said, thinking of Allie only having one year of school in Hope Valley remaining and how much Liam had grown.

"It's not just that… All this recent remembering of Jack has me realizing how much of his son's life, not only he's missed out on, but also his family. Jack's mother doesn't live terribly far away, but she's only spent maybe a handful of time with her grandson. And Tom, Jack's brother… Well, it's been even less."

Nathan wondered why Elizabeth was feeling the need to tell him this. "I'm happy that Jack will get to know other members of his family more. He's growing up, I'm sure he's asking more questions about his father. His grandma and uncle may be able to fill some of those blanks for him."

Elizabeth's brows furrowed together. "You don't think I'm capable of that? Of telling my son about his father?"

"I'm not saying that." Nathan felt his muscles tense. Why did it always seem that there was a fight brewing just below the surface whenever he spoke to this woman. "What I meant was, Jack's mother and brother knew him longer than you did. And at a different point in his life. They might have stories about Jack that his son would want to know about. Stories that you don't remember or have never heard of. That's one of the reasons Allie asked me all those years ago to let her start to build a relationship with Archie. To know more about her mother in different ways than I would ever be able to tell her." Nathan tipped his head to the side, causing the water that collected on his hat while talking to Elizabeth to pour off his brim in a steady stream. "Now, if you have nothing further for me in regard to Allie's schoolwork while she is absent, I must be leaving. I want to return home and to my family as soon as possible."

After his stop at the school, Nathan visited Bill, who willingly agreed to handle the Mountie business while Nathan was needed at home with the kids. The next stop was the hospital to ask Faith or Carson to swing by the ranch and check on Allie and Liam. Faith was the only one in the office at the time. Carson was already called out on some house calls on the other side of town. From the cold-like symptoms being reported across the community from more than one family, it seemed as though a nasty virus was making its presence known.

Faith took down some notes, and promised Nathan that she or Carson would stop by as soon as possible, but she couldn't make any guarantees it would be today. She gave him a prescription for some cough medicine for Allie, noted a few things to watch out for, and instructed him to bring the children into the hospital if he or Charlotte believed their symptoms took a turn for the worse.

Nathan swung by the pharmacy and mercantile for the medicine and a few supplies Charlotte wanted to help keep the kids comfortable. Nathan paid little mind to what he packed into the basket until he was back home at the ranch and now walking up the front porch steps. He couldn't help smiling to himself, realizing much of what he collected from the list was the same items Charlotte put together for him in his own care package that first summer she was in Hope Valley and Nathan was suffering from a cold.

Remi greeted him at the front door like always and led him to where Charlotte was in the kitchen chopping vegetables at the counter.

"Well, that didn't take you long," she said, not even looking up from her task.

"How are the kids doing?" Nathan asked.

"Okay. They both are resting now. Sleep is usually the best medicine they can get."

The aromas from the pot on the stove circled about them and Nathan inhaled the delicious scent with a deep breath. "It would seem that you think chicken noodle soup helps too." He lifted the lid on the pot and noted the homemade broth she was simmering. "Let me guess there is a fresh loaf of bread in the oven too."

Charlotte snapped the end of her towel in Nathan's direction, but he sidestepped her attempt easily, anticipating her retaliation to his teasing.

"They both seemed to have helped you once upon a time, Sarge," she said, returning to her task of chopping the vegetables and then adding them to the bone broth on the stove.

Nathan captured the tails of Charlotte's apron strings between his fingers as she walked past, the action stopping her in her tracks. "And I remember you saying that your mom made you this same meal whenever you were sick growing up." He kissed her forehead. "I'm glad our kids will have those memories too."

Charlotte smiled at him and then went back to work. "What did the docs say when you stopped by the hospital?"

"Carson was out on house calls. Faith believes there is a virus going around. Nothing too serious, just slight fevers, aching muscles, congestion, and other cold-like symptoms. She said one of them would try to stop by later to check on things." Nathan pulled some of the supplies out of the basket. "Faith thought this would help with Allie's cough. I think it's called…" Nathan looked at the label on the cough syrup. "Shoop's."

"Gesundheit." Charlotte giggled.

Nathan joined with her laughter. "That's funny."

"Really? You think so?" Charlotte's eyes sparkled with impish glee. "I've just… I've always been told my jokes are a little corny. That's what Allie says, anyways."

"Well, I thought it was very clever."

That night, Charlotte made her way down the stairs to the living room. She'd just settled Allie into bed. The steaming hot bath with some aromatherapy oils seemed to help with both her and Liam's congestion. And after another mug of hot lemon water with honey, Allie seemed to be feeling a bit more herself. Her fever broke a few hours ago, but Liam's seemed to be holding on.

He'd been coughing and crying all afternoon and evening as the cold made him uncomfortable. Carson was by and confirmed it just seemed to be a common virus going around. All they could do was try to make the kids comfortable and control their symptoms. Still, it was hard for both Charlotte and Nathan to watch their kids suffer in any way and just wait for the virus to run its course.

As Charlotte came into the living room, she saw that Liam was settled for the moment on Nathan's chest. The camphor and menthol salve seemed to help suppress his cough for the moment.

"How did you do this when it was only you?" Charlotte asked as she plopped down in a heavy heap beside Nathan on the couch. The constant worry and stress of nursing the kids had her outright exhausted.

Nathan chuckled and looped his arm around Charlotte's shoulders drawing her close. "Well, for one, it was just Allie, and I wasn't having to care for two sick kids at once. And for the most part, Allie was hardly sick growing up. Still, I'll admit, it wasn't always easy." He kissed the top of Charlotte's head. "I'm thankful I've had you with me today."

"And I, you," she said, tilting her head up to look into Nathan's blue eyes before shifting her gaze back to Liam in his father's arms. The boy snuggled into Nathan's other shoulder, opposite her. His tiny fist gripping his father's shirt as he buried his face in the comforting crook of Nathan's neck. Nathan swallowed, overcome by the gesture. "How's he doing?"

"Better, I think."

Charlotte brushed the back of her hand along her son's forehead and cheek. "He's still a little warm, but at least his coughing seems calmer."

"Mmmhmmm…" Nathan hummed in agreement before his chest began to rattle and shake beneath her head.

"I don't know if I can say the same about you." Charlotte pushed herself upright and looked at Nathan with a little more intention. Realizing he looked flushed as well as his eyes sunken. At first, she just assumed it was exhaustion like her own, but now realized Nathan was also starting to feel under the weather.

"I'm fine." He croaked out, his voice raspy after trying to conceal his cough earlier so not to disturb Liam and Charlotte resting on him.

Charlotte lifted her hand to his forehead, a frown flitting across her brow. "You are not fine, Sarge! You're burning up. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I just started feeling bad an hour or so ago." He grimaced. "And you had enough to worry about."

"I'm a mother and a wife. I have enough worry and love to go around."

Nathan gave a short, husky laugh that turned into a deep cough. Charlotte quickly scooped up Liam from Nathan's arms. Thankful the boy had fallen asleep and was so tired he didn't seem to be fazed by his father's current fit.

"Come on, Nate. Let's put your partner to bed." Charlotte stood and held out her hand to him. He took it and let her help him to his feet. "Then I think it's time someone took care of you for a change."

The next night Charlotte fretted from the chair she'd placed beside her and Nathan's bed. Carson stopped by earlier in the day to check on them. He was happy with the children's improvement, but the virus seemed to have taken a stronghold on Nathan. The doctor left some more medicine for Charlotte to administer and instructions on how to keep him comfortable.

Seeing her husband in this way, feverish and weak, was something that always set Charlotte on edge. She remembered the time they spent in the hospital after he'd been shot. When Nathan's life held in a precarious balance.

Thankfully things were not as serious this time around, yet she couldn't help but want to ease any pain or discomfort he had. Charlotte meant what she said. Nathan deserved someone to take care of him.

Someone to wrap him in blankets and keep the fire stoked and room warm. Someone to use a damp cloth to wipe the sweat from his brow. To give him his medicine at the appointed times and to rub Vicks onto his chest to help clear the congestion. Someone to help him eat a bowl of chicken noodle soup and soothe his aching throat with her own proven cure of hot lemon water with honey.

Charlotte was thankful for every act of service she could give Nathan. To protect him, in a way. To show him he was cared for. That he was precious and valuable. The most wonderful man in the world to her.

But above all, she did it to show him love. Her love.

With the soft light from the fireplace, Charlotte focused on the circles beneath Nathan's eyes as he slept and the rosy flush to his cheeks. The sticky heat that coated his skin caused Nathan's hair to cling to his sweaty forehead.

Because of his fever, Nathan was nothing but bare skin in front of her. His shoulder blades curved like folded wings as he hunched forward, and another cough racked his body.

Charlotte reached for the quilts on the bed and pulled them higher around Nathan's shoulders wrapping him in their comfort. In the process, Nathan cracked open his eyes and looked at her. Their normal crystal blue hues, now heavy and exhausted.

"That's n-n-nice," he murmured, closing his eyes once more around another ferocious cough. His dark lashes fanned against the rise of his cheek. His chin and the curve of his lips were barely visible above his blanket cocoon. It would be cute, Charlotte thought, if she wasn't so worried about him.

She gently swept the back of her hand against Nathan's sweaty clump of hair that lay across his forehead. "Try to get some sleep," she whispered. "It's the best medicine for you."

"Can't." Nathan's head felt like it was going to explode. "I don't seem to know how, without you in my arms."

A smile pulled at the edges of Charlotte's lips. He may be in a fog, but Nathan's flirtatious nature seemed to rest just beneath the surface of his clammy skin. She figured she'd already been exposed to the virus between caring for Nathan and the children over the past few days, that holding her husband in the hope he could get some much-needed rest, wasn't a sacrifice at all.

Without saying a word, Charlotte lifted the edge of the quilts and ducked under them to be with Nathan. Her arms slipped around his stomach, guiding him to her, until Nathan's bare chest was flush against her body. She sucked in a sharp breath with every heated inch of him pressed to her.

Nathan's hands moved to clutch her arms. "C-Charlie." His exhale was a sigh of relief. "Someone. To take care of me." He said into the warmth of her neck as his palm slid from her wrist to her elbow to nuzzle closer and fit Charlotte more snugly against his chest. Greedy for warmth even though his body was burning up.

"I'll always take care of you, Nate," Charlotte softly declared, her lips brushing over the shell of his ear. She let her fingers slip affectionately through his hair. Over his scalp and neck in soft massaging strokes.

Nathan relaxed into Charlotte's touch. Her hands were warm and secure as she moved them over him with exceedingly tender care.

"Always?" He asked. The word, lazy and slow as it tumbled off his tongue.

Charlotte noted his shaking wasn't as violent. His jaw finally relaxed from the tight clench of his teeth as she continued her ministry.

"I promise." Charlotte moved her hand to Nathan's back, slowing her touch until her palm rested along the center of his spine. She spread her fingers wide and listened to the sound of his breathing and matched hers to it. She nudged him with her nose. "Now, you keep yours, and try to get some sleep. I'll be right here."

Nathan hummed something under his breath, shifting until his arm was low around Charlotte's back and his knee hugged her side. Feeling Nathan relax as he used her for a human pillow brought a smile to Charlotte's face and some of the tension slipped from her shoulders as they both began to doze in the lazy comfort of one another's embrace.

Nathan smelled Vick's rub and shifted slightly. At least his body didn't seem to be aching as much as before, but his head still felt congested and full. He stirred some more and coughed, opening his eyes to see Charlotte looking at him. Her eyes were piercing grey and mesmerizing.

"I put Vicks on your chest earlier. You were coughing and it seemed to help." She leaned forward and put the back of her hand on his forehead.

Nathan could tell by her expression that he did not have a significant fever. Charlotte's hand brushed affectionately over his hairline, pushing his sweaty hair away from my face before smoothing her hand to cup his cheek. The action caused Nathan to sink further into her touch. It was a comforting gesture that touched him deeply. "I thought I'd died and gone to heaven waking up to an angel like you." He croaked the words out- immediately reprimanded by his seriously dry throat.

"Either you're feeling better and starting to flirt again." Charlotte smiled, the dimple in her cheek deepening. "Or you're delirious."

"Does it really matter which one it is?" He asked with a crooked grin, telling her he was certainly feeling more himself.

A low rumbly laugh sounded from her chest, and all Nathan wanted to do in that moment was press his face to it and feel the vibrations against his cheek. "Good to know you still have your sense of humor, Sarge."

Nathan took a deep breath and nodded, enjoying the feel of the back of Charlotte's fingers lingering against his clammy neck. "How are the kids doing?"

"They were better a couple days ago. Their version of this cold was only twenty-four hours or so. Yours has been a bit longer."

"How long have I been in bed?" He asked, as Charlotte leaned forward and helped prop another pillow behind him in support. She was extremely gentle in her movements, somehow knowing that his head felt like it was going to explode. Still, he appreciated her tenderness and relished being taken care of in this way.

"It's been a few days. You've slept for most of it. I'm guessing you don't even remember Carson stopping by with more of that cough medicine."

Nathan grunted in affirmation. He did not.

"That's what I thought. You were a little out of it," she said. "We even made you some 'get well' cards." Charlotte leaned over and picked up a few folded pieces of paper off Nathan's nightstand.

She placed them in his hands, and he looked them over. Smiling at each card's uniqueness to its creator. Liam's colorful, squiggly lines cutting in random designs across the cover accompanied by Charlotte's beautiful cursive letters on the inside that said 'Love, Partner'. Allie's card contained a humorous poem and Charlotte's was warm and full of sweet sentiments.

"That one's from Remi," Charlotte said, seeing Nathan's reaction to the crumbled and still slightly damp paper in his hands. "I think she slobbered on hers more than Liam did his."

Nathan gave her back the cards to place once more on the nightstand. Realizing even some of the simplest movements were still difficult.

"How are you feeling?" Nathan asked, his hand finding hers on top of the covers. "Did you ever get sick?"

"Nope." She let her fingers slip easily between his. "Don't you know, moms never get sick." Charlotte gave him a wink and as though to prove her point, gave him a quick kiss that Nathan swore had healing powers. "Plus," she said, drawing back from his lips. "I think I've wanted to be able to take care of you in this way since you had that cold from getting stuck out in the rain on your way back from Brookfield the first summer I lived in Hope Valley."

"I was just thinking about that too the other day," Nathan admitted. His happy-go-lucky demeanor melted into something serious. Unguarded. "It was kind of a turning point between us don't ya think?"

"It was." Charlotte looked down at where their hands were entwined. "The force I felt that day… It was an indescribable pull to wrap you in a blanket, make you a warm drink, and tell you everything would be okay. It scared me. It scared me how easily those wants came to me after what I'd experienced."

"I know it did. In a way I think it scared me too." He squeezed her hand in reassurance. Sending a prayer of thanks for how far they'd come and how far they still had to go in creating their lifetime together. "Personally, I'm thankful you were finally able to fulfill your desire to nurse me through a cold." He winked.

"The day we married, I made you a promise, Nathan." Charlotte shifted to lay next to him, their hands still locked together between them. "For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health…" She paused, looking to her side at his face. "To love and to cherish, all the days of my life."