Wednesday dawned with cloudy, grey skies. To Elizabeth, it seemed like it wasn't a question of if it would snow, but when. Excited about seeing his grandparents again, Jack had been up before the sun had even thought about rising. Never had she been more grateful that Nathan was so good with the kids. Her husband had climbed from bed with no grumbling and went to take care of him. Elizabeth had fallen back to sleep quickly. Noting the empty bed beside her as she got up to get ready, she found herself wondering if he had returned to the bed at all.

A quick check in the other two bedrooms told her that both the children were up. Continuing toward the stairs, the aromas of blueberry and bacon wafted up to her. Her stomach grumbled in anticipation of being fed. As long as she could stay far enough from Nathan's coffee, hopefully there would be no protest from her body to eating.

Reaching the ground floor, Elizabeth spotted the top of Nathan's head on the arm of the settee. Long legs poked out from the other end as a soft snore reached her ears. Apparently, though he didn't make it back to bed, her husband had been unable to stay awake.

Whispering from the kitchen made Elizabeth head in that direction. Reaching the doorway, Elizabeth smiled at the scene that greeted her. Jack was seated on a chair a safe distance from the stove where Ally was making blueberry pancakes and frying bacon. Both kids were dressed and were whispering, clearly trying not to wake Nathan in the next room, as they talked about the upcoming trip. As Jack had been to their Thatcher grandparents' residence and Ally had never been to Hamilton, the teen was asking Jack questions as she cooked. The sight melted her mother's heart.

"Mama!" Jack called out, spotting her. The boy immediately put his hands over his mouth and looked sheepish. "Dad is sleeping," the boy said, seriously.

"Yes, I saw your Dad already," Elizabeth said, opening her arms to her son.

Jack slid off the chair and came to give her mother a hug. "Good morning, Ally. Do you need help with breakfast?"

"No, I am about done," Ally replied, her eyes on her cooking. "Jack was already a big help," she added.

His arms around his mother's legs, Jack looked up at her. "I made the batter with Ally's help and put together the fruit salads," he proclaimed proudly.

"My, aren't you getting to be a big helper," Elizabeth praised. "Is the table set?"

"Not yet," Ally replied, looking over her shoulder. She nodded in the direction of Jack, telling Elizabeth that Jack had slowed the process down.

Elizabeth nodded understandingly. Still, the fact that she had taken the time to include Jack spoke volumes of the teen's character. "I will set the table then," she stated. She looked down at Jack. "How about you go wake your Dad up and tell him it's time to get ready for breakfast."

" 'kay" Jack replied, finally letting go of Elizabeth and hurrying to his father.

Elizabeth smiled as she heard Jack gently trying to wake Nathan up in the next room as she went to the cupboard for plates and glasses. After being woken up by his son, Nathan, hair-tousled and wearing his night shirt over a pair of pants, came in to say hello to Ally and Elizabeth before heading upstairs to get ready. To keep Jack occupied, Elizabeth handed him the cutlery from the stack of plates and sent him to the dining room. She followed with the plates, planning to return for the dishes.

By the time the table was set and the food on the table, Nathan was back, hair properly in place and dressed for the day. In an attempt to stay further away from Nathan's coffee, which she had Ally bring to the table, Elizabeth placed the two kids on either side of Nathan's end spot and took the chair next to Jack. If her husband noticed or minded he never let on and breakfast passed quickly with talk of what needed to be accomplished so they could be at the station on time.

The Kinslows showed up just as the remains of breakfast were being cleared away. Retrieving Nate for his stay with them was the main task but the two families also exchanged Christmas gifts to be opened on the holiday. The one exception to that was Vincent's gift to Ally.

"It probably shouldn't stay wrapped that long," Vincent told her when he instructed her to open it.

Ally looked at her father for permission. Nathan nodded and Ally ripped the wrapping paper from the oddly shaped package. In her hands, was a pot of dirt. Like she had with her father a few years earlier, she looked to Vincent. "A pot of dirt?"

Vincent seemed unfazed by the skepticism as he replied. "I put some seeds from the pinecone of the tree that you helped us select in it. You said the thing that upset you most about not having a family tree was that you wouldn't be able to grow a sapling to plant this year. I know it isn't quite the same, but you did help find the tree. That's worth commemorating, isn't it?"

Elizabeth watched Ally for her reaction. The girl smiled and then gave Vincent a quick one-armed hug, the other arm curled around the pot she held next to her body. "It is a very thoughtful gift," Ally said. "Thank you." She looked from Vincent to Elizabeth. "Do you think Uncle Tom is going to know how to care for it?"

Elizabeth contemplated that question. She had no idea what Tom's skills with plants were. Thankfully, Vincent saved her from having to answer.

"I can keep it in my room until you get back from Hamilton," Vincent assured her.

"Thank you," Ally replied, surrendering the pot back to Vincent.

To keep things simpler at the train station, the two families said good-bye at the Grants' house, though Gabriel did help Nathan carry the family's luggage downstairs and place it by the front door. Lee and Henry were coming with their cars to transport the Grants and their luggage to the train station.

As the Kinslows were leaving, the two cars arrived. There was a flurry of activity as the house was checked over one last time and luggage and people loaded into the car. At the train station, Bill and Tom, as well as Ellen and Opal Wiese had all gathered for last good-byes. Ellen handed Ally a letter from Robert, explaining that it had just come in the latest batch of mail and Ned had asked her to deliver it to the teen, not wanting it to sit around for the next couple of weeks. Lee and Henry told Nathan to stay with his family while they saw to getting the luggage not being carried onto the train where it needed to be.

Archie showed up shortly after, wavering about whether he should go or not. Ally's reaction was to throw her arms around her grandfather and declare if he was staying then so was she.

"Dad, if this is about being at the Thatcher's without Elizabeth and me, the two of us can skip our hotel stay," Nathan told him.

Elizabeth felt a protest bubble up within her. She wanted that time alone with Nathan, but she also understood how important it was for Archie to finally have this Christmas with his son and granddaughter. She would not rob any of them of that, so she remained quiet.

"Or I can pay for a hotel room somewhere for you as well for those few days," Nathan offered. "The kids would be fine at the Thatchers' residence with Elizabeth's parents. My brief stay with them last month makes me confident about that."

Archie sighed. "Well, if everyone is that insistent on me going, I guess I can't refuse," he replied. By this time, Jack was mimicking Ally and had wrapped his arms around one of the older man's legs. "You and Elizabeth deserve a little time alone, son. I don't want to take that from you, and I suppose as long as I have these two with me, I won't feel too out of place."

As that was settled, the call for them to board their train was made. Elizabeth noted that both kids kept a hold of their grandfather's hand. It was clear that Ally wasn't going to take the chance of her grandfather not boarding the train with her and Jack was just imitating his big sister. After giving Rosemary one last hug and placing a kiss on Aster's forehead as the girl watched the commotion from her father's arms, Elizabeth slipped her arm through Nathan's and let him lead her to the train.

Holding his daughter, Lee waved to his friends as they looked back one last time before boarding the train. They did make a wonderful family and he was so happy that Nathan and Elizabeth had found their way together in every way possible. Marrying Rosemary had been the best choice he had ever made in his life. She completed him and he was glad that Nathan had finally found someone to do the same for him.

Looking over at his wife, Lee saw her dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief. "They will be back before you know it, Rosie," he tried to assure his wife.

"I know. But this is the first time since I came to Hope Valley that I won't see Elizabeth on Christmas Day. The holiday just won't seem the same."

"We'll call her," Lee promised, wrapping his free arm around his wife's waist. "You can wish Elizabeth and her family a Merry Christmas and the three of us will have our first Christmas together," he said, nodding toward the little girl he held.

Rosemary looked down at her daughter. "That is going to be fun. I can't wait to see her reactions to the ornaments and the presents. Do you think Fiona would be willing to take a family photograph for us to commemorate the day?"

"I will ask her sometime today," Lee promised, placing a kiss on Rosemary's temple. He then looked down at his daughter. "You know what would cheer your Mama up? If you called her mama. Can you say mama?"

Aster looked at her father and then looked toward her mother.

"Lee, I told you to stop trying to get her to say it. Our daughter is clearly more intent on saying other words," Rosemary said with an exasperated sigh.

Before Lee could say anything encouraging, Aster took matters into her own tiny hands. Reaching out hands to her mother the little girl said, "ma, ma."

Rosemary gasped. "Did she just?"

"She did," Lee said happily as he handed their daughter over to his wife.

"Ma ma," Aster said again, this time patting Rosemary's cheek.

"You just made my Christmas, Aster," Rosemary told her daughter, kissing her forehead and holding her close.

Lee pulled his wife close to his side as the whistle gave its departing whistle. As the train started to pull out of the station, he and Rosemary scanned the windows for a final glimpse of Elizabeth and her family. As Mr. Thatcher had arranged for a private car for the Grants, their window was near the end of the train, but all five faces were visible as the car passed. Lee and Rosemary waved good-bye to their friends, hoping that their Christmas was just as joyful as their own promised to be.

Nathan was thankful that both the kids were occupied as his concern was currently on his wife. Ally had grown tired of looking out the window and was at the car's table reading her letter from Robert. Archie and Jack sat across from her, Jack reading to his grandfather from one of his books. When the boy stumbled over a word too much, Archie would patiently help him. If Elizabeth wasn't so pale and dealing with an upset stomach, it was a site that Nathan would have happily enjoyed. Learning to read with his father were some of the happiest memories from his own childhood.

As the door to the water closet opened, Nathan got quickly to his feet. He made his way quickly to his wife's side as the door closed behind her, slipping a hand around her waist.

"Should I see if there is a doctor on board?" Nathan asked her as he pressed the back of his hand to her forehead. At least he didn't detect a fever.

By this time, the other three in the car were watching them anxiously.

"No," Elizabeth replied. "It is just a little motion sickness."

"Is this normal for a train ride then?" Nathan asked.

"Not really," Elizabeth admitted. "I will be fine though," she said. Still leaning on Nathan, she headed for the seat along the side of the car that could open to serve as an extra bed.

"Perhaps you should at least lay down," Nathan suggested.

"I would rather lean against you and be with my family," Elizabeth told him.

"All right," Nathan reluctantly agreed.

As he helped Elizabeth get settled on the seat, her head resting on his chest, the other three went back to their reading. When the conductor knocked to see if they needed anything, Nathan requested peppermint tea for his wife, hoping it might help settle her stomach. The man nodded in response and promised to be right back.

A chuckle from Ally attracted everyone's attention. Looking up from her letter, the girl looked around to see all eyes on her. "Sorry," she apologized. "It was just that Robert wrote that his training officer had tasked him with cleaning out the stalls for the whole detachment's horses after a remark he made."

Ally then read a passage of the letter out loud. In it, Robert told of how Sgt. Shaun Delaney's former training officer, now Inspector McNally, had passed through on his own mission. Delaney had noticed the absence of the man's ring, Robert wrote, and had asked after the man's wife, whom the sergeant had once been engaged to. McNally had gruffly replied that the last he knew she was married to a businessman and living in Toronto. As the Inspector rode off Robert had made the comment to his sergeant that, "looks like you weren't the only one not good enough for her." As soon as I saw the look he gave me, I knew I was going to pay for that comment, Ally finished reading. She looked at her Dad. "Did you ever say something that got you in trouble with a superior?"

"A few times, and no, I am not relating the stories," Nathan replied, causing Ally and Archie to chuckle. "Cleaning a few extra stalls won't hurt Robert. Does he seem happy in his new post?"

Ally nodded. "He says he misses Hope Valley and its people but that he is finding satisfaction in the work he is doing."

"Not much more a man can ask for, when it comes to his job," Archie commented.

"Delaney?" Elizabeth murmured. "I wonder if he is related to Aunt Elizabeth's Wynn from the journal?"

"Maybe Robert could ask?" Ally volunteered, excitement and helpfulness in her tone.

"Perhaps we let Robert settle in a bit more before we ask him to start asking personal questions of his training officer."

"All right," Ally agreed.

Nathan looked down at his wife, who had not moved her head as she spoke. "Who was Wynn?"

"My father's younger sister came out west to teach in Pine Springs. She wrote about meeting a Mountie, Wynn Delaney, while there. Wynn was helping his brother out with his farm while his brother was in the hospital. Elizabeth fell in love with Wynn but their story in the journal ended abruptly. Apparently, Aunt Elizabeth had a short visit with Father and his family, before returning back west to teach. That is how Father got possession of the journal. He said after she left, he never heard any more from his sister."

"If Wynn was a Mountie, I could always make inquiries into him and maybe find out if he ever married if you or your father are curious," Nathan suggested.

"Perhaps we should wait and discuss it with my father. I don't want to open any emotional wounds that might have healed. He should have a choice in if we open up the past."

"Fair enough," Nathan said. "I will follow your lead in the matter," he assured her. He looked at Ally. "And it would be best if you don't bring the connection up to Robert when you write back."

"Yes, sir," Ally replied, though her expression showed her disappointment.

A knock on the door signaled the conductor returning with the peppermint tea. The man brought the tea over to Elizabeth, who murmured her thanks.

"Let me know if there is anything else I can do," the man told Nathan before taking his leave.

Beside him, Elizabeth inhaled the aroma of the tea and Nathan hoped that whatever was making her nausea would pass quickly.

AN: So, for those of you that are aware of the books, I am mixing some of them in with the way Aunt Elizabeth and Wynn's story was presented on the pilot movie. On the movie, when Elizabeth asked her father what happened to Aunt Elizabeth his reply was along the lines of - "we simply don't know. Except for a short visit following teaching in Pine Springs, my little sister simply left home and didn't come back". So, what started as a fun name drop is turning into a bigger subplot. For those of you like my beta who is wondering what happened to Elizabeth/Wynn it will be revealed as the story progresses.

As I was editing the story, I realized that Aster calling Rosemary, Mama, is happening on mother's day. While it is appropriate, it wasn't planned. It just seemed like a good time to finally make that happen.

To all my readers who are mothers of kids and furbabies, Happy Mother's Day!