Chapter 33- A Rose for Rosie

"Fred."

"Fred!"

Charlotte and Nathan looked over their shoulders at one another. They had set about tacking up the horses for everyone the next morning, while the others finished breakfast, when Rosemary's frantic cry stopped them.

"Rosemary. What's wrong? Is Fred, okay?" Charlotte stepped around the front of Danny as Gabe, Chuck, Tess, Lillian, and Grace, all joined them.

"Fred's missing!" Tears were welling up in Rosemary's eyes. "I don't know where he went. One minute he was right beside Lee and I as we walked further into the trees over there and then the next; he was gone. Lee's still over there looking for him now and I came back to get help."

"He couldn't have gone too far," Nathan tried to comfort Rosemary. "Here. We have most of the horses saddled. Let's split up and look for him. Charlotte and I will go with Rosemary and join Lee. Chuck, will you and Tess go north? Gabe and Lillian to the south?"

Both pairs nodded.

"Good. Grace. Can you stay with the children here?"

"Of course," Grace answered.

Everyone quickly set about executing Nathan's plan. Mounting the horses and riding into their respective directions.

"Lee," Charlotte called out as they neared him at the edge of the tree line. "Where did you last see Fred?"

"He was right through this area. Rosemary and I just turned our backs for a moment as we were looking out across the meadow and he was gone," Lee answered, as he took the reins to his horse that Charlotte handed him. "How can we ever be good parents if we lose a kid after two seconds?"

"Lee, do not talk like that!" Charlotte gently scolded. "This could have happened to anyone. Kids wander off without any reason sometimes. I am guessing Fred isn't too far off and he can hear us calling his name. He may be afraid of getting in trouble for walking away and that is why he isn't answering."

Nathan scanned the area to get his bearings.

"What do you think Charlotte? That way?" Nathan asked, tilting his head to the left.

"That's what I was thinking too. The stream should be in that direction. Kids love water," Charlotte answered.

"My thoughts too."

Since this was a serious situation, Nathan tried to suppress a smile that threatened to expose his thoughts. Charlotte was not just a great teacher or cowgirl, but she would make an impressive Mountie, too.

They slowly rode in the agreed upon direction, stopping often to call out into the forest. As they neared the stream, Charlotte caught movement out of the corner of her eye behind a few large boulders to her right.

"Fred?" she called gently as she dismounted and began walking in that direction. "Fred. It's Charlotte, Rosemary, Lee, and Nathan."

Charlotte saw a peek of Fred's red shirt on the backside of the boulder, so she waved over the rest of her search party. The other three adults rode quickly in her direction.

As Charlotte came closer, she saw Fred sitting on the ground, back leaned against the boulder, and the knee of his trousers torn open with a nasty gash.

"Oh Fred!" Rosemary exclaimed, brushing past Charlotte, and dropping to her knees in front of the little boy to wrap him into a tight hug. "Are you okay?"

"Fred, you had us so worried!" Lee calmly added coming to sit on the other side of Fred to rub his back and inspect his knee a little closer.

Tears sprang forth from Fred then. "I'm sorry Ms. Rosie and Mr. Lee that I wandered off, but I wanted to ask you both something. And it just didn't seem right to do it without a present."

Nathan had grabbed a small first aid kit out of his saddlebag and he and Charlotte had set about cleaning and bandaging Fred's scrap as Lee and Rosemary comforted the boy.

"Fred. That is sweet, but Lee and I don't need a fancy present."

"I know you both could probably buy whatever you wanted from a store, except one thing." Fred's brown eyes were looking fiercely into Rosemary's. "A little boy of your own. And I don't know. I was wondering if you would let me be that little boy?"

Rosemary's eyes filled with tears as she clutched Fred to her chest. She looked longingly over to Lee whose own eyes were filled with emotion as well.

Lee swallowed the lump in his throat. "Fred, would you really want Rosemary and I to be your mom and dad?"

Fred pulled away slightly from Rosemary to look over at Lee.

"Yes." he answered faintly. "That's why I walked towards the stream. I heard Ms. Charlotte say yesterday that sometimes you can find wild roses in a forest by water. I thought if I climbed up on this boulder I could see further and find where the wild roses were, but I slipped and fell and scraped my knee. I wanted to get a rose for Ms. Rosie before I asked her and you to be my mom and dad. That way I didn't think you could say no."

Charlotte reached for Nathan's hand, stalling their actions in finishing bandaging Fred's knee. They looked up at each other. Emotion welling out the corner of their eyes in the form of happy tears.

"Oh Fred," Rosemary beamed. "I don't think Lee, or I could ever say no to you."

"But you should understand," Lee began. "That if we became your mom and dad, it would mean moving to our home in Hope Valley and saying goodbye to Ms. Lillian, Ms. Grace, and everyone else here in Brookfield. We of course will come back often and visit them, but you would have a whole new town of people to meet and friends to make."

Fred seemed to stew over the proposition, trying to wrap his sweet little mind around such a big concept. "Well, I already know Allie, Ms. Charlotte, and Mountie Nathan. They live in Hope Valley, right?"

"We sure do Fred," Nathan said, as he looked down to where Charlotte's hand still squeezed his. Their knuckles turning white with how tightly they were clutching each other. "Actually Ms. Charlotte is one of the teachers in Hope Valley, so you would see her every day in class with Allie. And my Mountie office is right next door to the school, so you can visit me every day if you want."

"And our office is right down the boardwalk too!" Rosemary added. "After school you can help me with the town newspaper or Lee with his lumber orders. And you know what is right next to our office?"

"What?" Fred asked anxiously.

"The mercantile. Where I'm sure we could go get a piece of candy if Ms. Charlotte tells us you have been a good boy in school that day."

"I don't think that will be a problem," Charlotte's eyes glistened. "What do you say Fred? Do you still want to be a part of our Hope Valley family? I honestly don't think you could have picked two finer people than Mr. Lee and Ms. Rosie to be your daddy and mommy."

"I think I'd like that," Fred gave them all a toothy grin, before getting smothered in a big group hug.

*I have needed Lee and Rosemary having a child of their own for so long. And I fell in love with sweet little Fred in When Hope Calls and could picture him becoming a part of their (and Hope Valley's) family.

This was one of the main reasons for my crossover chapters. Well, that and Gabe and Nathan's discussion about Beck. AND Brookfield/New Hope stir up an especially important conversation with Charlotte and Nathan coming up…

This was a quick chapter, but the next one is a bit lengthier as we wrap up the cattle drive and get a little "spicy". If you have reached this point in my story you realize I'm a fan of the 'slow burn' :)