Chapter 176- Christmas Cookies

Did you really think I'd give you a whole season of 'So This Is Love' without a corresponding holiday special?

Nah! You know me better than that. Now, get ready for a chapter full of sweet, domestic Grant Family moments.

Merry Christmas in March!


Nathan turned the car off the road and pointed it in the direction of the ranch house at the end of the long drive. He left the office a little early with the hope of surprising his family and spending more time with them. But if he was being honest, he needed to investigate a rumor going around town all afternoon.

Charlotte was baking Christmas cookies.

He loved anything his wife cooked, but the smorgasbord of baked goods she created every Christmas season kept his mouth watering all year long. He didn't want to miss out on catching a few extra bites of sugar cookies straight out of the oven. They were even more irresistible once Charlotte frosted them and added those little sprinkly things on top.

Because of the short winter days, the sun had already started its slide behind the mountains to the west. The glow in the windows, and the smoke from the chimneys rising into the dusky evening sky, gave a hint as to the warmth that radiated from within their home.

Usually by now, there would be a blanket of snow across the landscape, but not a single flake or flurry had fallen in Hope Valley all fall or winter. Which was a disappointment to Nathan as he anticipated seeing Liam experience his first snow and the magic of the occurrence through the eyes of a child.

Nathan worried the first snow of the year would come when he and Bill were up North. They left soon after the fall party at the ranch. Collins and O'Reilly asked that the two men travel to Cadotte Lake to collect the evidence Warren stored there before his death.

Given that winter had already arrived in the north, the men traveled by train to Peace River and then took sled dogs to the outpost of Cadotte Lake. They met with Warren's friend, Night Hawk, who took them to the cave Tremblay used to hide his evidence surrounding the Schneider gang's connection to the illegal goods being transported into the North.

There they found the crate of whiskey Warren confiscated off Gagnon that tied him to the Drake family, as well as pages of illegal cargo lists and distribution notes. They were only able to spend one night in Cadotte Lake, before returning to present the evidence to Collins and O'Reilly in Edmonton where the two officers were still compiling the case against the Schneider gang for the upcoming trial.

Before they left Cadotte Lake, Nathan and Bill spent the evening with Night Hawk and his family. Hearing stories of Warren's lasting impact on the community even in his short tenure. Nathan asked the Cree man about Nimi, Tremblay's widow, and if he knew anything about what happened to her after Warren's death. Night Hawk knew little, other than Nimi planned to join her brothers in the village to the East. He later heard from a trader in the area that knew of her family. The trader said Nimi's family decided to move further North to a place where other relatives lived between Fort Chipewyan and Fort Smith.

Nathan left another letter for Nimi with Night Hawk. In the letter, Nathan begged Nimi to keep in touch, to let them know she was safe. He and his family would always extend an invitation to her to live with them in Hope Valley if that was ever what she wanted. While it would be a different culture than she was used to, he let her know that he would do everything in his power to make it feel like her home too.

Home.

A simple word that evoked such emotion. It wasn't just the beautiful house he and this community built for his family. It was those who filled it. Allie, Liam, and Charlotte. The family they made together and the love they grew here was a blessing that Nathan wished everyone could be able to experience in their life.

Pine boughs were tied along the railing of the porch, wrapping their way to the two red bows tied on the end posts. A large wreath that Charlotte made from the branches he and Allie collected a few days ago, hung crookedly on the front door. Its girth verging on too large for the hook it rested on. Nathan teased Charlotte about it, but she dismissed it quickly, saying the wreath added imperfect charm to the decor.

Walking towards the house, Nathan heard Charlotte and Allie's voices coming from the direction of the kitchen, accompanied by the happy chatter of Liam, making his thoughts known on whatever they were discussing.

And from the smell of things… They were discussing Christmas cookies.

The rumors were true!

Scents of sugar, butter, vanilla, and spices caught on the breeze that swept around Nathan as he climbed the stairs and opened the front door- being careful not to knock the already crooked wreath from its perch.

When he stepped through the door, he sighed as the heat kissed his frozen fingers and nose, sending a painful tingle through them. Remi greeted him as he crossed the threshold, just as she did every evening. She met him with joyous yips and a wagging tail. Nathan was hardly allowed to remove his heavy winter wraps before Remi expected a tussle. Nathan would take the big, brown-tipped, furry head between his hands and press his face against the dog's fluffy coat. Then the two of them would rock back and forth, and often end up rolling on the floor.

Remi, that is.

And sometimes Nathan too.

"Nathan? Is that you?" Charlotte called from the other room. "What are you doing home so early?"

With Remi satisfied, Nathan was able to remove his hat, gloves, and coat. Hanging them in their proper places in the hall before walking towards the kitchen. "Someone called in an anonymous tip, and I thought I better come and investigate it."

Charlotte stood by the stove with arms akimbo and a towel swung over her shoulder. The front of her clothes and apron carried a dusting of flour and baby slobber. "And what exactly are you investigating?"

Nathan embraced and kissed her, just as they did every time he came home. "Investigating the claim that you both would be making Christmas cookies without my help."

"Help?" Her eyebrow peaked. "Your way of helpin' is usually finding a way to eat all the product. And if that were the case, we'd have nothing left for the Christmas concert tomorrow."

Nathan feigned a wounded expression, but he knew his acting was subpar and Charlotte could decipher his tease.

"Allie and I knew we would need to get a head start on baking, if we were going to keep ahead of you and your sweet tooth."

"She's right, ya know," Allie said from where she leaned against the counter. Focused on one of Maise's recipe cards as she added ingredients to form the dough in the bowl. She was out of school until the new year. Elizabeth and Laura ended lessons a little earlier in the month to allow time for Elizabeth, Jack, and Lucas to travel to Hamilton and spend Christmas with the Thatchers. "You would have eaten everything as soon as we took them out of the oven before we even had a chance to frost the cookies."

"You too?" Nathan hugged his daughter around the shoulders and kissed her hair. "It seems I'm being ganged up on tonight."

"You are far from outnumbered, Dad." Allie's eyes lifted to him. Humor and persiflage swirled within their depths. "I think Liam is picking up on your bad habits too."

Liam sat in his highchair, the one Nathan made for him, at the other side of the kitchen island. Remnants of cookie crumbs attached to the drool around his mouth. At the sound of his name, he clanged the two wooden spoons in his hands together. Babbling to them in his high baby voice. Nathan went to him and spoke as though he understood, tickling his chubby thighs. Soon Liam broke out in a bout of laughter that lit up the room and had the rest of his family joining in his giggles.

"Oh, Partner," Nathan said, picking up the boy from his spot in the chair and settling the child on his hip. "What are we going to do with your mom and sister, huh?"

Liam leaned in close, finding his place in the warmth between Nathan's neck and strong shoulder. The gesture, no matter how often Liam did it, pulled at Nathan's heartstrings in a way he knew he'd never tire of. The eddy of emotions that swept through him at the knowledge of his son finding natural comfort in his embrace was overwhelming. Nathan's attention turned to Charlotte. A soft, all-knowing smile played at her eyes as she watched father and son together. Her hand drew up to press against her chest, and Nathan wondered if she even realized she did it.

"I still think he's going to say Sissy, first." Allie stated proudly. She stood beside them now, her hand placed on Liam's back. Catching his eyes, she gave him the grin that was only reserved for her little brother. "Come on, Liam. Say, Sissy. Sissy." She let the letters slowly roll off her tongue. Over enunciating each syllable in an attempt to win the friendly family wager on whose name would be the first uttered by the child.

Liam's head popped up and he waved his hands in a flurry of action as a response to the attention from Allie. He cackled and blew little bubbles of spittle from between his lips in response, spraying his sister and father with his love.

"Ew, gross." Allie wiped the slobber from her cheek. "That's not the answer I was going for."

The child smiled. Pleased with himself that he already knew one of his jobs in life was to continuously pester his older sister with his antics.

Nathan took a nearby towel and cleaned his own cheek and uniform, before catching the trailing drool from Liam's mouth. The boy now wiggled restlessly in his arms, so Nathan set him down on the floor in the corner of the room, far away from the hot stove and the flurry of activity in the kitchen.

Liam was crawling now with relative ease and took off on a scoot towards where Remi lay. Squealing in delight to be on his friend's level, squeezing his tiny hands into her fur and burying his face into her softness. The dog lay her head on her paws with a soft humph, as though already conceding defeat that she'd be the child's plaything for the next few minutes. She acted aloof, but Nathan knew Remi relished being a part of the child's activity and she also understood Liam's attention didn't last long and then he'd be onto terrorizing the next thing.

Allie seemed to decide her work was done in the kitchen, and she followed Liam to keep an eye on him and his adventures. After watching his children's interactions in the other room for a few moments, Nathan turned his attention towards Charlotte. "Since I'm not allowed to eat any cookies, what are your plans for keeping me occupied?"

"Thought you'd never ask." Charlotte tossed an apron in his direction.

Nathan caught the material right before it hit him in the face. "You can't be serious. Not the apron again."

Charlotte sucked in her bottom lip to keep a smile from popping out. Clearly remembering the first time he wore it when she taught him to cook on their honeymoon. "I'm quite serious, Sarge. Now put that on and come help me roll the dough out for this next batch of sugar cookies."

Nathan looped the apron over his head and stepped behind Charlotte at the counter. He noticed that her own apron strings had become loose throughout the afternoon and now hung limp at the base of her spine. Instinctively his hands went there, and he heard her breath catch in her chest as his knuckles brushed against her back. She swallowed but held still. He was only tying the strings, but every time his hand touched her, in that slow, tactile way of his, she felt her mouth go dry and the heat race through her.

"Sugar cookies," he said, peering over her shoulder at the dough in front of them. His hands were at her back and his breath tickled the hairs on the nape of her neck. "Are you sure this is okay for me to help with my… sweet tooth."

Charlotte's toes curled when she felt the flick of Nathan's tongue on the pulse point in her neck a second before he placed a kiss there. "Nathan…" Her voice was breathy as her fingernails dug into the rolling pin in her grasp. Focusing her attention there to keep herself from doing anything more that would embarrass their children in the other room.

"Yes?" The way Nathan drew out the word, he understood exactly what he was doing and the effect he had on his wife. He let one of his hands skim to her hip and give it a delicious squeeze of pressure.

Charlotte struggled to breathe. "I… uh. We need to, ummm…."

"Yes?" He said again. His voice was steady, unaffected. Making him appear an attentive student, but his actions said otherwise. Nathan kept a hand on her hip but let his other slip down the bare skin of Charlotte's forearm to join her hand on the rolling pin. He threaded their fingers together and rubbed his calloused thumb across the inside of her wrist causing Charlotte's treacherous heart to play in quick staccatos like a lively piece of piano music.

Fully ensconced between his arms, Nathan moved the rolling pin for them both, back and forth. Back and forth. Charlotte could feel the muscles of his cheeks grinning, his lips hovering beside the delicate skin beneath her ear. Neither paid attention to the cookie dough in front of them.

Part of Charlotte considered stepping away from him, only far enough to catch her breath, but instead she settled deeper into his embrace. She leaned against his solid chest. The action rewarded her with a deep groan of male triumph as it escaped Nathan's lips. Charlotte listened to the pounding of his heart- its beat matching her own. Letting them have this moment together, all the while loving the way her body and mind celebrated his presence. It hadn't always been that way, and she refused to take that for granted.

Charlotte pivoted in his arms, her body pressed between her husbands and the counter. Nathan's hands found hers, fingers gently skimming until their floured palms pressed together. Squeezing them once as she shuffled farther into him, a simple reward that made her soften in his embrace.

Nathan searched her face, looking for something in Charlotte's expression, and when he found it, the right side of his mouth hitched up on a smile, a smooth pull of his lips. Like Allie had a smile she reserved only for Liam. This was Nathan's smile for her.

Charlotte collected it and filed it away in her memories.

His gaze lingered on her mouth, and she saw the blue in eyes deepen with intensity. In achingly slow movements, he leaned forward and brushed his nose against hers. Nathan held her there, their hands twined together. He couldn't tell if his hands were shaking or hers as his bottom lip just barely grazed Charlotte's.

He could count every individual freckle on her nose. A burst of them on the bridge, less as they fanned out below her eyes. "You know why I like making Christmas cookies with you, Charlie?" Nathan didn't wait for a response, knowing his wife was well past the ability to form coherent thoughts or words. "Every time you stick another batch in the oven. It gives us approximately fifteen minutes for some kissin' and huggin'."

Gripping the edge of his apron with both hands she used the momentum to press herself up and into him. "You…" She giggled, light dancing in her grey eyes.

Nathan caught Charlotte's mouth in a kiss, cutting off her rambling chatter. His lips were soft and searching. Guiding them together. Slow. Patient.

Charlotte sighed, and with the sound, Nathan's lips smiled into hers. A curve of his mouth that she wanted him to imprint everywhere. Into her cheek, her neck, and lower.

In the pliable give and take, Nathan hummed under his breath when Charlotte slipped her hand from his to find the nape of his neck. His own tiny sound of surprise had her catching his bottom lip between hers. She shifted her hand up, allowing her fingers to thread into his hair and use it to angle his mouth against hers. Working to untangle all his gentle calm until he became as frazzled as she felt.

Nathan's lips moved against Charlotte's with sweet desire as one large, gentle hand worked itself into her wavy hair. The other went to her cheek. Leaving traces of floured evidence wherever their fingers touched one another.

A clearing cough pulled the two apart ever so slightly and their eyes slipped to the side to see Allie standing in the doorway to the kitchen. Liam on her hip and a protective hand clasped over his eyes. Liam, not understanding what his sister was trying to save him from seeing, had his hands gripped around her fingers in an attempt to pull them away. A frustrated fuss, that usually only happened when he was hungry, gurgled up. Allie wasn't swayed by his determination.

"Ah…" She stammered. "Aren't you concerned you're gonna burn those cookies?"

Nathan leaned back and started laughing. Charlotte quickly joined in, her spirits light and jovial.

"And here I was worried you'd eat all of our baked goods, but now I know…" Charlotte said to Nathan between her fits of giggles. "The bigger concern should have been your distracting ways, Sarge."

Liam fussed again, squealing, and fighting against Allie until she finally relented and dropped her hand to adjust him. Propping him higher on her side.

"I don't know why you're mad at me, Sir," she said to her brother. "I was just trying to save you from witnessing mom and dad being all lovey dovey over there."

Nathan smiled at his daughter and son, but instead of separating from his wife, he circled his arms around Charlotte's back and drew her closer into his chest. Eyes closed, he hovered with his nose against her cheek and forehead tucked into his wife's temple.

Part of him wondered if he should be embarrassed having Allie and Liam find their parents kissing in the kitchen, but he didn't feel even the slightest bit of remorse. Who needed to know more than Allie and Liam how much he loved his wife? He wanted the children to grow up in a household where loving was an accepted and expected part of life.

Nathan realized it would be important for his children's future that they see an example of a devoted marriage and the different aspects that made it so. Charlotte's arms tightening around his waist, silently letting him know she felt the same way. It was one thing finding your life's partners, it was another giving your children the building blocks to find their own happily ever afters.

"You two…" Allie shook her head from side to side in what to anyone else may see as annoyance, but the tug at her lips as she fought to suppress a smile, relayed her true affections. She turned in an attempt to hide it from her parents. "Liam and I are going to play in the living room on his rocking horse. Let us know when dinner is ready."

When their children were out of sight, Charlotte cleared her throat. "Well, that was…" She subconsciously wet her bottom lip with her tongue and tasted the remnants of Nathan's afternoon coffee. She cleared her throat for a second time.

"Good." Nathan finished her sentence for her. He ran a hand over his hair, front to back and back again, causing flour to dust his nose. "That was really good."

"Yeah…" Charlotte reached forward and used the tips of her fingers to brush the flour from his face. "That was really good, Sarge." She reluctantly turned her attention back to the counter and the dough they had been rolling out.

"Good idea." Nathan came to her side, arming himself with a plethora of cookie cutters. "The sooner we get another batch in the oven…" He caught Charlotte's eye and wiggled his brows in a suggestive roguish way that drew an instant blush to her cheeks. "The more time we have to indulge my sweet tooth."


After all the angst in my Season 12 finale chapters- I figured I owed y'all an exceeding amount of fluffiness and a slightly spicy baking scene for sticking with me through the tough bits.