Though he had done well over the days Elizabeth and Nathan were at the hotel, now that they were at the Thatcher residence Jack was clingy throughout the afternoon and evening. While he happily went back and forth between his two parents, he would not let them both out of his sight at the same time. Hoping the behavior would be short lived, Nathan and Elizabeth simply showered the little boy with affection while making sure that Ally got some attention from them as well.
The household staff helped to get Elizabeth and Nathan settled into the home for the remainder of their day. Grace had put her grandson and his parents in the connecting rooms that Nathan and Jack had used during their last visit. Even being reassured that once they went to bed they would be right through the door, Jack fought going to sleep. A story was read, Elizabeth sang a few songs and then Nathan started reading a second story. About halfway through the second story, sleep finally won as the little boy's droopy eyes fully closed and his breathing evened out.
Nathan stopped reading, and for the first few minutes neither he nor Elizabeth dared to move in fear that the slightest movement might disturb the sleepy boy. Finally, Nathan motioned for Elizabeth to leave the room. She did so, refraining from placing another kiss on her son's forehead. This was one time she didn't want to risk even that gesture.
Padding softly across the room, the quiet rustle of her skirts sounding louder than it should, Elizabeth held her breath until she reached the hallway. Turning back to the room, she was relieved to see her departure had not disturbed the sleeping boy. She watched as Nathan, still sitting on the edge of the bed, slowly closed the book before easing getting to his feet. As the book was one they brought, her husband walked soundlessly across the room to the dresser. Placing the book on top, Nathan then came toward the doorway she was still standing in. Elizabeth looked to his feet, verifying that they were actually touching the ground. Not that she thought Nathan could walk on water or anything, but she had never seen someone walk without making a noise.
Elizabeth took a step back into the hallway to give Nathan room to exit the room. Pulling the door shut part way behind him, her husband reached for her hand with his other one. Hand-in-hand they made their way quietly down the hallway, checking in with Ally, who was in bed reading. They said their goodnights, not sure how long they would still be up, before heading to the main staircase. Still holding hands, the couple made their way downstairs and found Grace, William and Archie all sitting with teacups in their hands.
"Thank you," Elizabeth told them as she and Nathan found seats on the settee which had been left open for them. As Elizabeth got settled, Nathan went about getting a cup of tea for both of them.
"Tea isn't my favorite, but I made the exception for your mother when she was pregnant with you and Julie. She didn't have much trouble with Viola," William declared.
"I had the same experience when Eileen was expecting Nathan and his sister," Archie chimed in.
"Is there anything you would like to share, dear?" Grace asked, in a tone that told Elizabeth that if she said no, none of them would press her on the subject right now.
Elizabeth smiled as Nathan handed her a cup of peppermint tea. He then picked up his own cup and settled down next to his wife.
"Apparently this time, the observant Mountie was the only one that didn't put the pieces together."
Elizabeth patted her husband's forearm.
"You just didn't have the right experience this time, Son," Archie told him.
"As everyone seems to have put things together," Elizabeth said, "I do believe I am in the family way, though I have not had a doctor confirm it. I hope that when I return to Hope Valley that Faith will be able to do so. Please, until that time, Nathan and I would like to keep things quiet. Especially when it comes to the kids. I want to be sure before I tell Ally and Jack."
"Of course, dear," William replied.
"I'll hold off making the announcement at the Amaryllis that I will be a grandfather again until you tell me it is okay," Archie replied. "There will be an announcement though."
"Mom told me he passed out cigars to his coworkers at the bank the day after he found out about Colleen and me," Nathan supplied.
"Well, I don't think the female staff will appreciate cigars so, if I want to pass anything out, I will have to think of something else," Archie replied.
"How are you feeling about it, dear?" Grace asked, her gaze searching her daughter's eyes as she asked the question.
Elizabeth reached for Nathan's hand. "I am happy about it," she confessed, gazing into Nathan's eyes instead of looking toward her mother as she answered. "I know I am bringing this child into a whole and loving family. I know that his or her presence will not change how Nathan feels about Jack or even Ally. We are just expanding our family, and nothing could make me happier."
"Me either," Nathan replied, gazing into his wife's eyes.
"Then I am happy for you. Your father and I will need to arrange another visit to Hope Valley after they are born. Perhaps we could even arrange to be there for the birth."
Nathan looked away from Elizabeth to address his mother-in-law. "Elizabeth and I would be happy to have you," he assured her.
"We would," Elizabeth echoed. "For now though, perhaps we should discuss what you had planned for the rest of our stay?" she questioned, sure that her mother had every day of their stay planned.
"Other than plans for Christmas Day, nothing is set," Grace said, the news surprising Elizabeth. She held up a notebook. "I did ask people when they would be available for visiting but told them that I wanted your input on everything. I do not want to overwhelm anyone or make plans for Jack's birthday without your input."
"I appreciate that," Elizabeth confessed. "As for Jack's birthday, I was originally thinking about just keeping it limited to us, until Nathan and I ate at The Shining Star Café. I spoke with Margaret and we discussed trying to get together so we could catch up and she could meet Jack. As the café is closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, I was thinking perhaps we could invite the Chastains and the Montclairs to a party for Jack around one o'clock, which would allow everyone to partake in any Christmas Eve services that they planned on attending."
"I like that. Then there are no hurt feelings among any extended family that certain ones got invited and others didn't," Grace agreed, making a note. "I will contact the Montclairs if you would like to extend the invitation to the Chastains through Margaret, Elizabeth."
"All right," Elizabeth agreed.
As they continued to sip their tea, the five adults continued making plans for the remainder of the Grants' visit. Those plans included quiet time to relax, Julie joining Elizabeth and her family for Christmas dinner, time to meet other members of the Thatcher family, and a trip to the port again so that Nathan and Ally could see one of the Thatcher shipping vessels.
Gabriel was going through mail from headquarters on the Wednesday before Christmas when Corporal Mayne and Constable Thornton came in from doing rounds. Looking up from the paperwork, he noticed two very disheveled looking Mounties.
"I take it rounds weren't routine?" Gabriel ventured, trying hard to keep a smile from creeping onto his face.
"You could say that," Harold remarked as he took his hat from his head. Though his boots were covered in dried mud, and his left hand had a bandage, Harold looked better than Tom.
The younger Mountie looked like he had fallen into some mud, the earthen material starting to flake off as it dried. Along with that, his Stetson looked a bit misshapen as if it had been trampled and didn't quite want to be molded back into its original shape.
"Looking at pigs you would think it would not be so hard to get back in a pen. However, they can move fast when they want to," Tom replied.
"Whose pigs?" Gabriel asked, still struggling with his amusement.
"Ernie O'Hara," Harold replied.
At that, Gabriel lost his control of his amusement and started laughing. Ernie didn't just have a few pigs like most of the farmers. His pigs were his main source of income. As such, there were probably as many pigs on the O'Hara farm as there were in the rest of the farms around Hope Valley.
"And I take it that the pigs didn't cooperate?" Gabriel managed through his laughter.
"I think the pigs took pleasure in going the opposite direction of what we wanted them to," Tom commented. He took a good look at the hat now in his hands. "And they seemed to head right for trampling the hat as soon as it fell on the ground."
"I told you to leave the hat on your saddle horn," Harold said, walking over to the second desk they had placed opposite of Gabriel's.
"Next time I will listen. How's the hand?"
Harold looked down at his bandaged hand. "It's just a little cut."
"Cut how?" Gabriel asked.
"The Cruise's dog had brought down their clothesline and got tangled in it. Mrs. Cruise and the oldest son were trying to untangle the dog. When I went to get my knife out to cut the dog loose, clumsy me managed to nick my hand. It isn't bad."
"Maybe not, but go stop by the infirmary and have Faith take a look at it just the same," Gabriel told him, his amusement gone.
"The paperwork?"
"It'll be good practice for Tom to do it," Gabriel stated. "I'll hang around the office with him in case he has questions. You can look everything over in the morning before it is submitted."
"Much as I don't want to admit it, the sergeant probably has a good point," Tom said. "Besides, don't you have a supper date to get ready for. You probably want to wash up after hanging out with the pigs."
"You're the one that did a face plant in the pig pen," Harold taunted back.
"Don't remind me," Tom replied.
"The date is definitely more important than paperwork about pig wrangling," Gabriel interjected.
Harold looked at his superior. Gabriel could tell the man was trying to figure out if he was being serious or not.
"Don't keep Ms. Stiles waiting for her date. The paperwork will still be here in the morning. Though your first stop had better be the infirmary and I will check with the doctor tonight over our supper."
"Yes, sir," Harold replied, headed back for the door, his hat going back on as he left the office.
Gabriel looked at Tom. "Have a seat," he said pointing to the other desk. "I don't want to be here all night waiting for you to write up your report for rounds."
"Yes, sir," Tom said, heading toward the desk.
Gabriel went back to the mail on his desk. He'd let the kid work while he finished up his duties. When he was ready to leave, he would tell Tom that he could finish the report in the morning as well. The kid clearly needed to get cleaned up and he had no intentions of delaying his own supper because of paperwork - his own or someone else's.