Married, yes...Chapter 24

Nathan was walking back to the hotel and thinking about everything that had happened. In a matter of hours, he had gone from a single man to a consummate married man, and now the father of two children. My children, he loved the feeling, both Alien and Jack might not be his biological children, but he loved them so much that his heart seemed to explode just thinking about his children. And his wife Lizbeth, the only woman he had ever loved in his life and who was now definitely his beloved, his wife.

Meanwhile, in a room at the hotel, a serious and confidential conversation was taking place between Bill, Wynn, Frank and Charlote, where they were explaining about some documents and acts that had been put in place to save Elizabeth and little Jack, even under certain special circumstances, and that they wanted Charlote to know about and give her blessing. With her hands on her hips and her most penetrating teacher's gaze, Charlote asked:

- Wait a minute, explain it to me properly, because I don't understand anything...

Wynn began to say:

- As Elizabeth's uncle, I've known her struggle all these years against Charles and his parents, and when she was widowed by her son Jack Thorton, her father Willian Thatcher filed a lawsuit and a judge ruled that a widow and single mother would not be a productive person for the family and society, that her father Mr. Willian Thatcher would be responsible for both Elizabeth and Jack Junior, putting them on the right path and due to a lady and that the child should also be taught the term, in addition the document states that he could make any and all decisions even without her consent. That's why William and Charles decided against marriage and to send little Jack to the orphanage as an orphan.

That's when Bill entered the conversation, saying:

- When I found out about this, we were already on the road looking for them. I got in touch with Wynn and after talking to Nathan and Frank, we saw that it was the best and only solution, even if it was drastic, but we had to do it, because these men aren't going to give up so easily or until she falls to her knees for them. With this order from the judge, she couldn't even teach or if she was anywhere, these men could take her by force. She became her father's property until the wedding. So I solved her problem by law with the help of all of us here.

Wynn took a piece of paper out of an envelope and explained:

- This paper is the certificate where I became Elizabeth's guardian and adoptive father weeks ago, where my wife Elizabeth Thatcher Delane and I took her on as our legitimate daughter, keeping her name because my wife is also a Thacther. But now she's my beloved daughter.

Bill went on to explain to Charlote that even if it wasn't Wynn, both he and Henry had every intention of adopting and being Elizabeth's guardian, but that she would be loved just the same because all three men considered themselves her father. He also warned that only Nathan and whoever was in the room would know the whole story, so as to avoid any embarrassment for Elizabeth, since everyone knew what Nathan and he would come up with, but that only Nathan and the real parents and Charlote as the mother were aware of everything.

As for me, Frank, as pastor, the one who spiritually manages the people of Hope Valle with the word of the Lord our God, as pastor of the church to which she and Nathan professed their faith, I performed their wedding twenty days ago, when Nathan and all of us were looking for her in Lilian's orphanage, after her escape Nathan once again told me of his love for her. Bill was with us and said that if the two of them got married, Nathan would be able to give her the protection she was entitled to under the law, as well as being a man who loves them and would do anything for them, meaning that marriage would be the solution. So I arranged their wedding, together with the witnesses and best man present, Lee and Henry, two of the town's great merchants, but one with the feelings of a father and the other with the feelings and pride of an older brother. It's the law, for reasons of force majeure, when a daughter can't be present and in her case as the document said that a widow would be the father's responsibility, but with the adoption Elizabeth became the responsibility of Wynn who has just signed their certificate as their legal father. And it is by the power vested in me, by the State of Alberta, Canada, that I pronounce them man and wife, presenting to you Mr. and Mrs. Grant.

Bill confirmed that he, as a judge, had confirmed the documentation that both in law and in the church they had already been married for more than twenty days, that the whole time Charlote had been at the side of Elizabeth's new husband and her new family member, but that she also needed to know that he had done a special but very necessary piece of documentation and that since that wedding day, Jack Junior had been adopted by Nathan as his son and heir, renaming him Jack Junior Thorton Grant, so with this union they would be safe under the law.

Charlote looked at everyone with tears flowing, speechless to express everything she was feeling at that moment...

But Wynn, seeing her internal battle, spoke quickly:

- As her father, I promise you that we will take care of Jack Junior, and that we will never let his father's memory die, because he was a great mountie, a true hero as well as her beloved father. As for Elizabeth, we know that Nathan was going to inform her about being his wife as soon as he found her, but according to him, if she didn't accept this after the end of the story with Charles and William, Nathan promised that he would give her the freedom to do whatever she wished because he loved her more than anything in life.

Charlote looked at Wynn and said:

- I'm sorry for my reaction, but it was the surprise of knowing that all of you in one way or another were doing everything to protect her, loving her with the same intensity that my son would do. I think my son would like Nathan, he's an honorable man and committed to his family, and he did and does everything for Lizzie and my grandson. I can only say that my family has just grown, and as far as I know I'm going to have a granddaughter, the little young Alien. So Charlote... Frank said... Don't be alarmed or find their situation strange. It's a marriage formed and consummated in the middle of a war, where they need to find each other. Love can happen whenever and wherever God wants it to and they both deserve to be happy. And love is worth fighting for. And so the four of them hugged and together they said a prayer that Nathan and his family would return safely and be very happy.