Chapter 198- Fateful Day

The view in front of Charlotte was one she'd never tire of. And one she was more than happy to wake up with for the rest of her life.

Nathan lay asleep on his stomach. His arms folded under his pillow. His hair falling over his forehead. His perfectly sculpted, kiss-bitten lips parted slightly. The covers of their bed, only rising to the small of his back, leaving Charlotte with miles of skin to admire.

She studied the angles of his muscled arm, up to his rounded shoulder, and across the expanse of his toned back. Nathan was always more than enough to elevate her pulse, but asleep and fully unguarded, he stole her breath.

Charlotte reached for him, tracing absent-minded designs with her fingertips as a precursor for her lips to leave a trail of their own.

"Mmm, Charlie." His sleep-rough voice made her lips curl into a grin and her blood heat. His muscles rippled as he stirred awake, and she took her time, kissing a slow path up the expanse of his back. He inhaled sharply, his arms tensing when she reached the place where his neck and shoulder met.

With mastered movements of his own, he shifted them both, rolling to settle Charlotte onto her back, and him hovering at her side.

"Good morning," he whispered across the pulse point of her neck. His eyes were still closed. He didn't need to see to know just where to touch and kiss her, picking up right where they left off only a couple hours before.

That was until the sound of little feet padding across the hallway followed by a light knock on the door broke the moment.

"Momma. Daddy. Wake up!" Liam's little voice called from the other side of their door.

They had moved their son over to his 'big boy' bed a few weeks prior in order to get Liam used to the change before Baby Grant's arrival and his official eviction from the nursery crib came along. It was a hard day for Charlotte, but Liam was ecstatic. He didn't fully understand it all, but he thought having a bed like Allie and his parents was something special.

The only drawback seemed to be his ability to now escape his bed and room while no longer being confined behind the bars on the crib.

"Daddy, please pway with me."

"Your son is awake," Charlotte whispered on the tail end of a kiss to the sensitive spot below his ear.

Nathan cracked his eyelid open, his gaze slowly moving to the east bedroom window. Noting the darkness still clinging to the winter landscape. "Before sunrise, he's your son."

Charlotte giggled. "Welcome to life with a little one."

Nathan flopped back against the pillows of their bed, taking deep breaths, grinning at his own overplayed drama. Charlotte snorted and nestled into Nathan's side. He'd never tire of the sound of her happiness. She kissed his cheek again, then peeked at him and winked.

Liam pushed the door in and poked his head around the edge, his teddy bear, Allie's old 'Cowboy', hung by the head from the crook of his chubby arm.

"Come on, Liam." Nathan patted the bed next to him. "There's room for both of you."

Liam landed with one leap, his knee connecting with Nathan's side catching a gasp of surprise from the Mountie. The boy crawled up the bed and used his sweet little hands to try and raise Nathan's eyelids. "Daddy. Wake yet?"

"Yes, I'm awake."

"Pway with me?" Liam asked. "Pway plane?"

Allie recently found a book about planes in the library and ever since she read it to Liam he had been fascinated with them. Nathan made him a small model plane in his workshop for Liam's Christmas present.

"A plane, huh?"

Liam aggressively nodded his head as Nathan scooped him up. Lifting the boy in the air above his head. Dipping and swerving like he was an airplane. Liam grinned, holding his arms out still, playing along. Joy crackled between them, bubbling up and filling all the gaps and cracks.

Charlotte watched her two boys play for a few minutes, before slipping quietly from the covers to wrap up in her robe. Walking by her rocking chair she picked up the book of Emerson poems she was reading the night before. In her… haste… to return to Nathan's side she'd forgotten to mark her place. Thankfully the page she was reading when Nathan drew her attention away was fresh in her mind and after flipping through a few pages she found her spot.

.

"It is not the length of life, but the depth of life. He who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

.

After Charlotte's conversations from the day before, first with Nathan in the snow making angels and then that evening with Laura, she'd felt drawn to the line by one of her and Nathan's favorite authors.

Liam's giggly shriek and corresponding motor sounds from Nathan, still on the bed pretending to fly, drew her attention back to the present. She placed the marker between the pages of the book and then slipped off into the bathroom to wash her face and prepare for the day ahead. When she returned a few minutes later the play had seemed to settle and Liam now lay back against the pillows on the bed, his head resting in the crook of Nathan's arm. The boy was content now to trace the little beaded eyes of Cowboy the teddy bear. His father, on the other hand, already seemed to be back asleep. His eyes closed and his breathing deep.

"Come on, Liam," Charlotte said, lifting her son into her arms. "What do you say we get you dressed for the day and then make some breakfast for daddy and Allie?"

Liam settled his head on Charlotte's shoulder. She kissed his soft cheek and turned to leave the room.

"Momma. Kiss Daddy, too?"

Charlotte chuckled. "Yes. Momma can kiss Daddy, too." She took a few steps back to Nathan's side of the bed, leaned down and kissed his cheek. When she straightened, she noticed her husband's face lifted into a smile. So, she kissed his lips too.

For good measure.

Charlotte readied Liam for the day. Dressing him in his blue shirt with dark trousers, complete with little suspenders. Since he was born, Liam had always looked a little more like Nathan than her, which she was perfectly happy with. He had Nathan's eyes and hair- including that little curl that always hung over his forehead. Liam matched his father's easy, crooked smile and good humor. While he still held much of his chubby baby looks, Charlotte could already see the physical changes in Liam as he transitioned into a toddler. Losing some of his roundness, and instead growing upward. He was going to be tall, that was certain.

But as Nathan pointed out from the very beginning, Liam had one physical feature, all his mother's- a dimple in his right cheek.

She loved looking at their child and seeing little pieces of her and little pieces of Nathan all rolled into one. It made her wonder what the new baby would look like. What their mannerisms would be.

Charlotte and Liam made their way downstairs and let Remi out for the morning before starting a pot of coffee. "What should we make for breakfast this morning, Liam?" Charlotte asked.

"Pancakes!"

Charlotte chuckled. She wasn't surprised. They were Liam's favorite. "Pancakes it is then."

"Good choice, partner," Nathan said, joining his wife and son in the kitchen. He ruffled Liam's hair and then looped an arm around Charlotte's back kissing her temple. When he drew away, he gave her a wink.

As Charlotte began mixing the batter, Nathan took Liam and sat down on a chair. He crossed his legs and slid Liam along them until the boy was sitting on his foot. He held his son's tiny hands in his big ones.

"Now we're going for a ride." Nathan swung his foot out and back very gently, out, and back, and began to chant, "This is how the baby horse goes, do-dah-da-do, do-dah-da-do." And then, swinging his leg with more force, "This is the way the momma horse goes, ba-bop-bu-bum, ba-bop-bu-bum." By the time he got to how the daddy horse goes, he was wiggling his foot all over, and Liam was bouncing around as though he was riding a bucking horse. He shrieked and yelled his delight and got red in the face from excitement.

"Easy does it, you two," Charlotte said over her shoulder, placing the first of the pancake batter into the warm skillet. "You're going to wake up-"

"Too late," Allie interrupted, joining the rest of her family. "I'm already up. If the plane didn't do it earlier, the rodeo in the kitchen has." She tried to act perturbed, but the slip of a smile gave away her true feelings- she was happy just to see everyone else happy too. "You'd swear the Calgary Stampede was happening right here in our house."

The family settled over breakfast, enjoying the homemade pancakes, and discussing their plans for the day. Nathan and PJ were going south of town today to investigate a farmer's claim on some of his chickens being stolen over the last week. The farmer believed it was some of the new 'drifters' coming into town for work in the mill or oil company. Allie was working the switchboard and Liam was going to spend the morning with the Coulter's while Charlotte helped Elizabeth go through the plans for teacher transition the new year would bring.

As expected, this fall William Thatcher was appointed as a Senator and with that transition, Elizabeth and Lucas made the decision to leave Hope Valley for Hamilton. It was not an easy choice, but one that the couple agreed to. They still planned to keep the 'Queen of Hearts' and would stay there when they returned to town for visits, Gustav would take over as manager while Lucas transitioned to William's role as head of Thatcher Enterprises.

As they assumed, given Elizabeth's history as an educator and her family's standings in Hamilton, she had her pick of teaching positions and in the end chose an opening at Strathallan School which was close to the Thatcher home and where Jack and Amy would both start classes. Elizabeth admitted being closer to her family played a large part in their decision to move. After seeing Jack with her father and sister for so many weeks the summer before last, and the transformation he made under their attention, it was a change she felt they needed to make.

There were mixed feelings about town with Elizabeth and family leaving. Most understood the dilemma and what went into the couple choosing this path, but at the same time, it was hard to say goodbye to one of their own. Especially Jack.

Over the past month, Lucas had been in Hamilton, being trained by Mr. Thatcher while also preparing for his family's arrival in town and searching for a house to call home. Nathan and Charlotte heard he arrived back to town the night before to celebrate one last Christmas season with everyone in Hope Valley.

Upon Mr. Landis receiving Elizabeth's letter of resignation, he immediately offered the open position to Charlotte, who politely turned it down. Instead, the she and Elizabeth suggested another past Hope Valley student, Katie Yost. Katie jumped at the chance to come home and be closer to her family there and accepted the offer. But because of current commitments, she would not be able to return to town until right before classes were set to begin in January.

Because of the timing, with Katie unable to arrive until after Elizabeth was scheduled to leave, Charlotte offered to spend a couple days with Elizabeth to go over where all the students currently were in their studies and make a transition plan for the new year under Miss Yost, which Charlotte would help to facilitate as best she could while taking care of a newborn.

"How long do you think you will be at the school today?" Nathan asked Charlotte, using the last bite of his pancakes to mop up the remaining maple syrup on his plate. "Depending on what Constable O'Reilly and I find out at the farm, it may be late before we get back. I can have him drive me home instead of you and the kids waiting around for me all day."

"Oh, I don't think too long," Charlotte said. "But we can wait for you. Allie has a full shift today at the switchboard and I promised your mom that I'd be by to help her with a few odds and ends. Rosemary promised me that she and Patricia have been planning for a whole day with Liam."

"They're not going to try to put pink bows in his hair again, are they?" Allie asked with a scrunch of her nose.

"They what?" Nathan looked back and forth from Allie to Charlotte.

"It was nothing that bad." Charlotte used a wet cloth and wiped the sticky remnants of their breakfast from her son's face. "Patricia just wanted to play dress-up and you know Liam… He's just happy to do anything as long as he's the center of attention."

"He did look kinda cute though," Allie said, remembering the image of Liam from the last time she and Charlotte picked him up from the Coulter's after a Rosemary supervised play date.

"He did, didn't he."

"I don't think so." Nathan stood abruptly, circling his arms protectively around his son. "Partner, what do you say you come with me to work today? Help Mountie PJ and your 'ol man catch some bad guys."


Charlotte and Allie quickly confessed that they were just pulling Nathan's leg and convinced him it was perfectly safe to allow Rosemary Coulter to watch Liam for a few hours. Even if he did happen to get a pink bow or two put in his hair, it would just be practice for future years if the new baby was a girl.

The Grants rode to town together in the car and while Allie slipped off to start her shift at the switchboard, Charlotte took Liam over to the Coulter's house to get him settled with Rosemary and Patricia. Fred was spending the day with his dad at Lee's office in town, but Rosemary told Charlotte about their plans to meet the boys at the cafe for a late lunch and invited her, and Elizabeth to join, which Charlotte accepted.

She made her way across town, stopping to wave or make small talk with various people going about their daily routines. Abigail caught her as she walked by the cafe and wanted Charlotte's opinion on the new soup she was hoping to serve for today's special. A little more salt and a hint of nutmeg and Charlotte thought it would be perfect.

Molly and Florence stopped her just outside of the mercantile. Commenting on how Molly thought she would be having another boy, because of how big Charlotte was, while Florence claimed it was a girl- 'She's carrying high, Molly. And she's very… round.' The two women also made bets on how soon Charlotte would be going into labor, judging by how slowly she moved and how whenever they saw Charlotte lately, she seemed to always have a hand pressed to the small of her back. 'A sure sign you'll be in labor before the week is through', Molly assured.

Joseph and Archie waved at her from across the street as they were coming out of the construction office as did some of the school children standing outside the library. PJ and Bill were walking together from the judge's office on their way to meet Nathan for the morning and to plan for the course of action on the farmer's theft claims.

The rest of Hope Valley's residents were putting on the finishing touches of their Christmas decorating for the upcoming festival. Scarlet ribbons and golden bows flashed against the greenery strung around banisters and the posts along the boardwalks. Each door along main street was decorated with its own wreath and Charlotte could hear music playing from the church, no doubt Minnie holding a rehearsal for the Christmas services.

This time of year would always hold a special place in Charlotte's heart. It was when she gave Allie her grandmother's Claddagh ring. It was also when Charlotte and Nathan were married. Through the years they had hosted family and friends from near and far, including Warren Tremblay, and John Bartlett. And this year, the arrival of a new family member would be just one more blessed reason to celebrate the Christmas season.

The school was quiet when she entered it, with the children already on winter break so early in the month, Elizabeth and Charlotte planned to make the most use of their time with few interruptions. When Charlotte entered Elizabeth's classroom at the end of the hallway, she realized she wasn't the first one there. Elizabeth was already at her desk, sorting through piles of papers and books, organizing her plans for the transitions.

Sweet Amy was there too. In the few short months, she'd been in Hope Valley living with Lucas, Elizabeth, and Jack, she slowly, but surely started to break down her walls and shine. From what Allie told Charlotte, Amy was very good with numbers and was a star student in math class, which was the textbook she was looking over now and scribbling out equations on her slate.

Amy was the first to notice Charlotte enter the room. "Bonjour, Madame Grant," she said in her quiet voice.

"Bonjour, Amy," Charlotte answered. "I didn't know we would have your help today too, but I'm happy we do, since I'm a little late."

She shrugged. "I wanted to work through the problem I missed on my last math quiz before break and with Jack and Mr. Lucas not feeling well, Miss Elizabeth said I could come along with her to the school.

While Lucas and Elizabeth completed the formal paperwork and received approval to be Amy's legal guardians, the Mounties and children's bureau were still searching to find if she had any living relatives. Even though Lucas and Elizabeth said they were okay with Amy calling them whatever she felt most comfortable with, the girl seemed to find a fit with Mr. Lucas and Miss Elizabeth or even Mr. and Mrs. Bouchard when they were in a more formal setting like that of the school with the other children present.

"It's just a cold," Elizabeth said. "Lucas has been working nonstop with Daddy and preparing for the move that he was run down and needed some rest when he arrived back in town last night. Jack, on the other hand, decided to play out in the snow yesterday with some of the other boys, but somehow forgot to wear his gloves and hat and woke up this morning with a slight fever."

"Oh no," Charlotte said. "Being sick is never fun."

"They are both resting at home. Nothing some sleep shouldn't resolve."

"We can do this another day, if you want to get back to the row houses and take care of them," Charlotte offered.

Elizabeth waved a dismissive hand. "No. There isn't another day that we can do this. My time is already running thin, and I want to make sure Katie and the children are set up for success when I…" Her voice broke. "When I leave."

Charlotte nodded in understanding. Seeing that Elizabeth wanted to change the subject quickly and move on, she lowered herself down in the chair across the desk and the two women began working through the lesson plans and notes for the students.

They worked steadily all morning and before Charlotte knew it, the time she and Rosemary agreed to meet at the cafe for lunch was near. She'd forgotten to ask Elizabeth if she would like to join, but when Charlotte finally looked over at where Elizabeth had been working for the past few minutes in the back corner of the room, her stomach dropped, and she quickly rose.

"Elizabeth, are you alright?" Charlotte erased the distance between them. Amy, now pulled from her math work, was following close behind. "You don't look so well.

"I'm fine." Elizabeth said. "I just need something to eat. I was in such a hurry to get here on time this morning, unlike someone…" Elizabeth looked over at Charlotte. "That I didn't have a chance to eat breakfast."

Charlotte was impressed that Elizabeth's voice somehow held the ability to both tease and scold over her tardiness this morning. Charlotte tried to conceal the flush that she knew came to her cheeks with thoughts of what caused her to be late this morning.

"Well, you're in luck then," Charlotte said. "Rosemary invited us to join her and the children at the cafe for a late lunch and I think Abigail was trying out a new soup. We could order extra and drop it off at your rowhouse for Jack and Lucas."

"That… That'd be good."

Charlotte's brow furrowed at the way Elizabeth was slurring her words. "Are you sure you are okay?"

Elizabeth set her face in that steely way of hers and she began to rise from where she was working. "I told you, I'm…"

But before she could finish her sentence, Elizabeth's eyes rolled back, and she grabbed the shelf beside her to keep from collapsing. Still, she knocked some books to the floor in the action.

Charlotte gently put her arms around Elizabeth's waist and pulled her close. The woman swayed unsteadily, and it was a struggle for Charlotte to keep both of their balances. She placed a hand on Elizabeth's forehead and noted its high temperature and clammy feel. "You're not alright. You're burning up!"

"I must have just caught the cold from Lucas and Jack. Maybe it's best that I go home and rest with them instead of going to the cafe."

"I think we should take you to see Faith, this could be…"

"No. I just need to take a break. Come on Amy, let's go home."

Charlotte watched Elizabeth and Amy collect their things at the entry. Before they left, the girl slipped one last glance over her shoulder at Charlotte. She hadn't said a word, but Charlotte seemed to read exactly what Amy was asking of her with that single look.

Please, help me get her home. I can't lose one more person I care about.

"Elizabeth, wait." Charlotte held up her hand and rushed after the other two as she clumsily put on her coat. "I'll walk you home and then go to the cafe to get everyone soup for lunch. You'll be feeling better in no time and then we can finish these lesson plans another day."

Elizabeth did not respond one way or another, she simply kept walking in the direction of the row houses. Amy a step behind and Charlotte a few feet further, but by the time they neared Elizabeth's home, the fast gait Mrs. Bouchard had set off from the school with, was now a slow plod and by the time they reached the steps, Amy, and Charlotte each took one of Elizabeth's arms to help her up the porch and in through the front door.

Elizabeth slumped across the couch the moment they walked in the door, and Amy without any prompting set about putting a kettle on to boil. The house was eerily quiet, and Charlotte instantly noted how cold it was. Turning towards the wood burner in the corner she saw that it had not been tended to yet that morning, and the embers were left to burn completely out. She took off her winter layers and draped them over a nearby chair. Thankful that there was still some kindling left in the wood box to get a new fire started, which quickly began warming the first floor.

Heavy steps sounded from the bedroom overhead and Charlotte turned in time to see Lucas begin his descent down the stairs, his iron grip holding him steady along its railing. When he finally reached the bottom of the stairs and faced her, with a blank expression, Charlotte realized this was not simply a cold as Elizabeth alluded to, but rather something much more sinister.

"Lucas," Charlotte said, coming to his side. "Where is Jack?"

"He's… he's upstairs. In his old bedroom. He was more comfortable in an actual bed." Lucas struggled to swallow. His throat and glands were swollen. "He's… Not feeling well."

"Here you need to sit." Charlotte directed him to the closest kitchen chair and helped him slip into it. "I'll go check on him."

As quickly as possible, Charlotte climbed the stairs and found Jack's old bedroom, the one Amy had been staying in since she came to Hope Valley. As Charlotte feared, the same rash that she saw on Lucas' skin was flaming red on Little Jack's chest, visible beneath the edge of his striped pajama shirt on his sleeping form.

She took a deep, steadying breath and sent up a prayer to God for his protection and healing. They were going to need Him to make it through to the other side. Charlotte decided to not disturb Jack and let him rest, so she returned downstairs to an anxious Amy waiting for her at the bottom of the steps.

"What's going on, Mrs. Grant?" She asked. "Do they all have the cold? Should we go get them that soup from Miss Abigail?"

Charlotte placed her hand on Amy's shoulder. "It's not a cold, Amy. And we are not going to be going to the cafe for lunch."

"We're not?"

Charlotte shook her head. "No, we need to stay here and take care of Mr. Lucas, Miss Elizabeth, and Jack. And to keep everyone else safe."

"Everyone else safe? I don't understand."

"We are quarantining this house. No one else can come in and none of us can leave until this has run its course."

"It? What's it?"

Before Charlotte had a chance to answer Amy, she heard some children playing along the road in front of the row houses. Through the window, she saw Cooper, Timmy, and Paul walking along. She had been trying to think of a way to get word to Nathan. While there was a telephone in Lucas and Elizabeth's home, Charlotte knew that Allie would be the one to pick up since she was working the switchboard at the mercantile. Instead, she went to the door to flag down the boys.

"Cooper," Charlotte called from the front steps. "Is your dad at the construction office?"

"I believe so. If not, he may have gone to the cafe for lunch."

"Will you please fetch him? Tell him to come to the Bouchard house. I need to speak to him about an urgent matter."

Cooper and the other boys seemed to understand the importance of their mission and set off on a run towards town.

Charlotte watched them until they disappeared around the corner. She wasn't sure exactly what made her ask that it was Joseph, Cooper send over instead to Faith- a doctor, Lee- the mayor, or even Bill. But it was something deep inside her, or a voice from above, that directed her down that path. Joseph had always been a calming presence to Charlotte. Someone who was able to put her at ease since coming to Hope Valley.

And she needed a bit of that today. Not only for herself, but also Nathan and Allie.


"I can't believe that farmer really thought it was a person stealing his chickens," PJ said to Nathan on their ride back to town that afternoon.

Their trip south to inspect the claim of theft had been quickly resolved the moment Nathan discovered fox tracks leading right up to a hole in the back side of the chicken coop. The farmer felt rather embarrassed, once the evidence was produced and he continuously thanked Nathan and PJ while they helped him repair the hole in the hopes of saving the rest of the man's flock.

"I've learned over the years being a Mountie that sometimes people believe the worst and are unable to see what's right in front of them," Nathan said, turning down the road that led to Hope Valley.

"Isn't that Joseph's car?" PJ asked, seeing a vehicle coming towards them.

"Yeah, I think it is." Nathan started to slow his car and pull over to the side. Rolling down the window as Joseph did the same.

"Hi, Joseph. What brings you…" But before Nathan could finish his question, the look on Joseph's face told Nathan all he needed to know.

"It's Charlotte. She sent me to get you…"

"What's wrong? Is it the baby?"

"No, it's not the baby." Joseph shook his head. His expression was one Nathan only saw once before from the man. The night, years ago, when the pastor carried Charlotte's wet and muddy body back into her home. "Why don't you hop in the car with me, and I'll explain it all on the way."