After passing the flowers out, Nathan asked his father if he had talked to Elizabeth yet today. Archie said that he hadn't, so Nathan filled his father in about the plans for the evening and invited him to join them whenever he was free. Archie said he had a few things to take care of at the Amaryllis but would be there for dinner and cake. Nathan said good-bye to his father and then mounted Newton.
At home, Nathan got Newton settled in the barn, gave Sargent and Cosmo a little attention and headed into the house. The smell of baking carrot cake wafted through the house although none of his family was there to greet him. Nathan didn't wonder at the strange occurrence for long before Jack called out to him.
"An egg is hatching!"
Surprised by the announcement, Nathan made his way to the kitchen where he found Elizabeth, Ally and Jack all gathered around the crate by the stove. Jack knelt beside the box, a couple of clean, soft, cloths in his lap. Elizabeth and Ally hovered behind, both looking into the crate themselves. Nathan went over to join his family.
Standing next to Elizabeth, Nathan peered down into the crate. Sure enough a tiny duckling was working on making its appearance from its egg.
"Well, I'll be," Nathan murmured as he knelt down next to Jack.
"Can I pick it up?" Jack asked, looking from nature's miracle up to Nathan.
Nathan nodded. "Very gently," he instructed the boy, as the duckling had gotten itself most of the way out of its shell. "The duckling is very delicate but you should dry it off gently. It needs to be kept warm."
Jack nodded seriously even as the boy reached out and gently lifted the duckling from its bed of hay. Following Nathan's gentle instructions, Jack dried the duckling off as he held it close to him. The tiny duckling looked up at Jack and made a little sound trying out it's 'voice'.
"It is so cute!" Ally whispered.
"It is," Elizabeth agreed. "But how do we take care of a baby duck?"
"Gabe was supposed to figure that out," Nathan said. He had done a little research himself just in case his friend went with the assumption that none of the eggs would hatch. "I will hitch Cosmo to the wagon and take Jack into town to see Gabe. Can you find Jack a basket to carry the duck in and some towels to keep it warm?"
"I'll get the towels," Ally volunteered.
"I'll find a basket," Elizabeth said turning from the sight of her son cradling a baby duck. As much as she did not want a duck in her house, she knew it was a battle that Jack would win at least for a little while. She could, not in good conscious, tell her son that the duckling had to sleep outside. Nor did she want to, afraid that she would wake up to an empty bed again.
"Keep the duckling warm, Jack. I will be right back for you and it."
"All right, Dad," Jack replied. He looked from the duckling in his hands to the other two eggs. "What about the other eggs?"
"We are lucky one egg hatched, Jack. Chances are if they did not hatch with this one, they are not going to," Nathan told him, not about to lie to the child. "We will keep the eggs in the crate for one more night but if they don't hatch by tomorrow, I am going to dispose of them."
Jack had a sad expression on his face, but just nodded. The smile reappeared when the duckling used its beak to 'nibble' at Jack's shirt, causing the four-year-old to laugh.
Knowing the duckling would be hungry, Nathan left for the barn. He soon had Cosmo hooked up to the wagon. As he pulled the wagon to a stop, in front of the house, he spotted Elizabeth and Jack waiting on the porch steps. Jack held a basket stuffed with towels. Nathan assumed the duckling was in there somewhere. He felt sure Elizabeth would have made sure the duckling could breathe.
Elizabeth held the basket, as Nathan helped Jack up into the wagon seat beside him. Elizabeth then handed the basket up to him.
"I would come with you, but I should help Ally with your birthday dinner and cake," Elizabeth told him.
"It is fine," Nathan told her. "If Gabe is in the office, I will hand Jack off for his lesson on how to care for a baby duck. If he isn't, then Jack and I will be figuring it out ourselves."
Elizabeth smiled. "Where are we going to keep a pet duck?" she asked quietly, looking perplexed.
Nathan chuckled. "We will figure it out. As far as I am concerned, a pet duck joining the family on my birthday is a good problem to have."
Elizabeth nodded as she stepped back from the wagon. She stepped back up onto the porch step to allow Nathan to start the trip into town.
Walking into the Mounted Police Office, Gabriel hung his hat up and crossed to the desk. Sitting down in the chair, he tossed the small packet of mail from Mountie headquarters onto the desk. Leaning back in the chair, he stared at the mail. He knew he should probably start going through it though part of him would rather just place it aside for another time.
Gabriel almost longed for the saloon to be opened as saloon's were always a good breeding ground for distracting minor altercations.
However, that was not to be. There was talk of the factory owners opening a small drinking establishment out that way now that the Queen of Hearts would not be reopening but nothing concrete. As for the Amaryllis, the hotel and event venue would be more family oriented. It would be a hotel and dinning room that could be used for events. Lee and Archie had also created a small separate dinning room or conference room that could be used business meetings or more intimate dining experiences.
Gabriel listened for raised voices outside. Anything to give him an excuse to ignore that mail. Alas, all that came to him was the simple murmur of voices as people went about their daily business.
With a sigh, Gabriel reached out for the mail. Paperwork it was.
As he went to open the first envelope the door to his office opened. He was surprised to see Nathan and Jack enter the office.
"You cannot even stay away on your day off, huh?" Gabriel teased his friend, happily dropping the envelope back onto the desk.
"Oh, I could have stayed away," Nathan told him. "However, Jack has business with you," he said, his hands on Jack's shoulders as the two walked toward the desk.
Gabriel noticed that Jack was carrying a basket. At first though all he saw in the basket were towels and he wondered what was going on.
"A duck egg hatched, Mountie Gabe!" Jack said excitedly, stepping away from Nathan as he hurried forward. Jack came around the desk to Gabe's chair and held up the basket. As he did so, the duckling popped its head up from its cocoon of towels and gave a little quack.
"That is great, Jack! Does it have a name yet?"
Jack paused, a pensive look on his face. Apparently naming the duckling had not occurred to him yet. Gabriel was about to tell the child that there was no rush for a name when a huge smile broke out on the lad's face.
"Nate!" Jack said excitedly. "It was born on Dad's birthday so it should share a name with him!"
"That is a great name, Jack," Gabriel told the boy. Looking up at Nathan, Gabriel caught the surprise in his friend's expression. Nathan was clearly touched by Jack's words no matter what he thought about having a duckling named after him.
Jack beamed. "Dad said you will teach me how to care for the duckling."
Gabe nodded. "I did do some research. Let's go to the mercantile for some oats and apples first," he told the boy as he got to his feet. "That little guy probably wants his first meal. After we do that, I will teach you what else you need to do for Nate," he said, smirking at his friend as he said the Duck's name.
"Are the two of you all right with me going to see Bill while you do what you need to do?" Nathan asked, looking to Jack as he made the inquiry.
Gabriel knew that it was not the idea of leaving Jack with him that gave Nathan pause. His friend had left Ally in his care in the past. However, though fine most of the time, Jack could still get clingy at times. Whoever he left his home with, Jack would tend to want to stay with.
"Go, tell Uncle Bill about my duck!" Jack said excitedly. He tucked the duckling safely in its cocoon of towels and grabbed Gabriel's hand. "Come. Nate is hungry," the boy said.
Chuckling, Gabriel got to his feet and let the boy pull him from the office. Teaching a kid how to care for a duckling beat opening mail from headquarters any day. As he passed the set of hooks by the door, Gabriel grabbed his hat.
"We'll find you in about an hour," Gabriel said, looking back at Nathan.
"A pond?"
Nathan nodded calmly as he sat across the desk from Bill. The older man had been surprised to hear that one of the eggs had hatched. He had laughed when Nathan told him the duckling's name was Nate and then asked what they were going to do with the duckling. Nathan said that for now they would keep it inside as he did not want Jack wandering out to the barn in the middle of the night to check on his duckling like when he had gone to sleep in the kitchen. Eventually, the duck would need to go outside though without a mother to teach it things, it would probably always be dependent on them for food. That was when Nathan's idea of creating a small pond on the property came up.
"I suppose it makes sense. It would give the duck a more natural habitat than the house while keeping it close for Jack to keep an eye on it," Bill continued. "As I do not want to be accused by my god son, of not caring about his pet duck, I will help you build a small pond on the property. We can pick out a spot for it when I am out at your place this evening."
"Thank you, Bill," Nathan said.
"You are welcome," Bill said. "I wasn't going to ask this of you on your birthday but now that you have asked me for a favor I feel a little more comfortable with asking you for a favor."
"What did you need, Bill?" Nathan asked, his curiosity piqued.
"Have you signed any papers regarding your severance from the Mounties?" Bill asked.
"Not yet," Nathan replied in a measured tone. "Super Intendant O'Reilly was planning on coming to Hope Valley at the end of next week. I am not changing my mind, Bill. I realize I will probably miss this at first but I am looking forward to pursuing my new business."
"And I want you to pursue your dream," Bill said, quickly. Too quickly in Nathan's opinion. "However, would a delay of a month be such a bad thing?" Bill asked. "If I could get O'Reilly to agree to it, couldn't you just stay on the job until Kinslow can get married, have his honeymoon and get back to doing his job?"
"What aren't you telling me, Bill?" Nathan asked, instinctively knowing that Bill had more information than what he was currently providing.
Bill sighed. "Headquarters has already indicated that they planned on sending a young Mountie to Hope Valley to cover Kinslow's leave for his wedding. As in, he is finishing his probationary period with his training officer next week. I can't see it being any less of a headache than when Riggins was here. I tired telling them that sending someone to cover Kinslow's leave, was not necessary but they wouldn't hear of it. They said given the growth of Hope Valley and the fact that the local Mountie was recently shot, that they wanted the position covered. Couldn't you just put off starting a new career by a few weeks? For me?"
"I think you are missing something in that request, Bill," Nathan said easily.
"Please!"
Nathan chuckled. He understood his friend's position. Nathan would not even mind helping him out. However, it was a decision he could not make on his own.
"I need to talk to Elizabeth and Allie about it first," Nathan told him.
"I will plead my case to the two of them myself if you would prefer," Bill told him.
Nathan had no doubt that Bill would do just that. It might even prove entertaining to let him do it. However, he didn't have the heart to make his friend to that.
"I will talk to them. If you don't like the answer they give me, then it will be all up to you. Also, if I do decide to extend, you are the one who is talking to headquarters about it."
"Done!" Bill said quickly. "I'll start thinking about how to approach that."
"What if they tell me they don't want me to?" Nathan asked.
Bill leveled a glare across the desk at him. "Then I will know that you left out the bit about it being a favor to me," the older man told him, no humor in his voice.
Nathan chuckled. Bill made a good point. If he mentioned it was an ask from Bill, Allie and Elizabeth would agree to it. Especially Elizabeth. Bill was like a father figure to both him and Elizabeth and though Bill hated the term Grandpa, Ally had confided the older gentleman felt like a grandpa to her.
"I will talk to them and let you know," Nathan told him.
"Good. Have you had lunch yet?"
"No," Nathan admitted. "I came home to a duck egg hatching."
"Let me treat you to lunch, at the café, for your birthday then," Bill said, getting to his feet. Nathan followed suit. "Gabe can find you there easily enough."
"Thank you," Nathan said, deciding that the easiest course was just to accept the gesture. Besides, he was hungry.
When Nathan got home with Jack and Nate, Elizabeth and Ally were in the kitchen. Soft chatter came to a stop as Jack preceded Nathan into the house. Gabe had provided the duckling a bed in a high walled box that he would not be able to escape from and roam around the house on his own, though Jack still carried the duckling in the basket.
"Don't come into the kitchen, Dad!" Ally called out.
Nathan smiled. Apparently his daughter wanted something to be a surprise for this evening.
"All right," Nathan called back to her. "I am taking duckling's new bed to the sunroom," he informed them."When you are both free, I need to talk to you both," he added, as he and Jack headed for the sunroom.
"We just need to finish something," Elizabeth called to him.
Nathan acknowledged the reply. In the sunroom, he helped Jack get the duck settled in the box. The towels would allow the duckling to be warm while sleeping and two low dishes would give the duckling access to food and water. Jack went into the kitchen alone to put water in the dish.
When he came back, Nathan helped put it in the box so it didn't splash over the sides. Nate had settled in the towels to take a nap, having been fed by Jack and Gabriel earlier.
"Now, Jack, the duck is only staying in the house for a short time," Nathan told him, sitting on the floor next to the box to address his son. "Eventually we will move his bed out to the barn and Uncle Bill and I are going to dig him a small pond in the yard. Eventually, the duckling will probably be happier out by the pond all the time."
"What if it wanders off?"
"Then we need to give it that freedom. We will take care of the duck and as it has been handled young, you should be able to pet it. Chances are, it will hang around the house, simply because you feed it. However, the duck is still a wild animal. If it chooses to wander off, especially if it finds another duck, we need to let it. You understand that, right Jack?"
Jack came over and leaned against Nathan. "But we'll take care of it until it is bigger, right? Just like you wouldn't leave me go off on my own."
"Yes, we will protect it. We will keep it in the house for a bit, and then in the barn at night until it gets bigger. We will make sure that it has food and is warm when the weather gets cold, but we also need to give it its freedom to wander off if it chooses. Do you understand?"
Jack nodded seriously. "It is like when Mama says she dreads the day I am grown up and leave her," the boy said.
Nathan refrained from chuckling knowing that Jack would not see the humor in the situation. "Yes, Jack," he said, hugging the boy close to him. "It is just like that."
"Now I know why Mama looks sad when she says it."
Nathan kissed the top of the boy's head.
"Can I sit with my duck for a bit?" Jack asked.
"Yes," Nathan said. "Just do not leave the house alone."
"Yes, sir," Jack said, moving away from Nathan and sitting down next to the box with the sleeping duck.
Footsteps caused Nathan to look toward the doorway. Elizabeth and Ally were standing in the doorway.
"What did you want to talk to us about?" Elizabeth asked.
Getting to his feet, Nathan led his wife and daughter into the diningroom where they all sat down at the table. Nathan told them about Bill's request that he put in a few more weeks to cover Gabriel's leave for his wedding. Seeing the worry on Elizabeth's face, Nathan reached out for her hand.
"I won't do it if you don't want me to, Beth," Nathan told her.
Next to her, Ally looped her arm through Elizabeth's and leaned against her. "It is just a few more weeks," Ally said, looking up at Elizabeth. "I don't want Grandpa Bill to be stressed out with a brand new Mountie."
Elizabeth laughed as she looked at Ally. "Grandpa Bill? Has he heard the reference yet?"
Ally smiled and shook her head. "He told me to call him Uncle Bill but he claims Dad is like a son to him so that would make him Grandpa. I've got the smile and look down pat to win him over," she said confidently. "I perfected it on, Dad."
"Did she ever, " Nathan muttered, though he wore a smile himself.
The comment had broken the tension in the room. Looking back to Nathan, Elizabeth spoke. "If Ally can be brave, so can I," Elizabeth told him. "Tell Bill he can talk to headquarters about you covering Gabriel's leave."
"Thank you, Beth," Nathan said, leaning in and pressing a kiss against her cheek. "I don't know how I would have gotten through these last couple of years without Bill's support. I wanted to do this for him."
"Just be careful," Elizabeth told him.
"I will be as careful as I can possibly be," Nathan promised her.