Lucas closed the gate of the mansion's yard and walked toward the stairs that led to his home.

Looking up, he took in the Governor's mansion standing elegant and proud in the evening. It already held so many wonderful memories for him.

And so many more memories will be created here.

Home.

I hope she will say yes.

He took out his pocket watch and checked the time.

It was almost 23.00.

Lucas was sure that his staff were already in their respective beds and not wishing to wake up anybody he took the keys from his inner suit jacket and opened the doors.

The main hallway was in a complete dark, as well as the grand staircase.

Just as I thought.

Lucas stepped inside, pulled on his tie to loosen it and closed the doors.

Taking off his coat he turned around and gasped at the sight of a smirking Gustave standing behind him.

With his palm on his chest, Lucas shook his head.

"What on Earth are you doing lurking around the halls like a ghost?!", hissed Lucas, but he couldn't hold back a chuckle at seeing Gustave's grin "You moron. One of these days you'll give me a heart attack", he laughed as Gustave walked toward him and they hugged each other.

"Welcome home, mon frère", said Gustave, giving Lucas' back a brotherly pat.

Lucas smiled warmly.

"Merci, mon frère" ("Thank you, my brother"), he replied and looking around, he genuinely smiled "It's good to be home."

Gustave gave him a small, but genuine smile.

"So, you are thinking of this place as a home now?", Gustave asked carefully as he took Lucas' suitcase and they went into the living room.

Lucas nodded.

"Home is where your heart is, mon frère", said Lucas as he sat down and let out a sigh of relief and content.

Home.

Gustave smiled thoughtfully.

"And your home is where Mademoiselle Grace is", he said.

Lucas nodded, smiling at his cousin.

"And I want to make this her home too", as Gustave's eyes widened a bit and his lips curled up in an expectation, Lucas said "I'm going to ask Grace to marry me."

At those words, Gustave smiled widely, then pulled his cousin into a bear hug.

"That's wonderful, Lucas!", he said happily.

Lucas hugged his cousin back.

"Thank you, Gustave", as they pulled away from each other, Lucas said "But, I'm going to need your help with preparing everything for the proposal…", he barely finished the sentence when Gustave stopped him.

"Say no more. I am French. We know romance", he deadpanned, causing Lucas to shake his head and laugh.

"Alright. We will go over the details later. First thing first, Lillian will come here tomorrow at 16.00. I asked her to come so we can talk, but she doesn't know about what exactly", said Lucas "She only knows that it's some kind of surprise for Grace".

Gustave's face turned serious.

"Trés bien ("Very good"), he said as he got up "Now, are you hungry?"

Lucas scratched at his beard on his left cheek and shrugged.

"Yeah, kind of", he replied as he got up "What's on the Menu?"

Gustave proudly smiled.

"Boeuf bourguignon", he said

Lucas closed his eyes, letting his head fall back for a second and then smiled and hugged his cousin with one hand around his shoulders as they went out from the living room.

"Gustave, you're the best!", said Lucas with a smile.

But, in the hallway, Gustave creased his eyebrows as he glared at Lucas in the way that he stopped walking immediately.

"Where are you going?", asked Gustave.

Lucas shook his head in confusion.

"I thought we were going to eat. Didn't you just…", he tried to speak, but Gustave raised his eyebrows.

"We are. I am going to heat up the meal. You are going to wash your hands and go to the dining room", said Gustave in a matter of fact tone of voice.

Lucas put his hand in the air, pointing at the kitchen doors.

"Can't we just…", he started to ask, but Gustave interrupted him again.

"There's no 'we'. YOU are not coming in MY kitchen", warned Gustave in a tone of voice that an old lady would use to scold a mischievous puppy.

Lucas looked upwards, his palms on his hips as he took a deep breath in.

"Unbelievable", he mumbled

Gustave was already walking toward the kitchen doors and once he reached them, he turned around and said in a scolding tone of voice:

"Go", he shot Lucas a warning look making him chuckle in disbelief and go toward the bathroom.

—--

Grace was taking the stuff out from her suitcase when Lillian barged in her room carrying a large bowl of popcorn and two juices, a tip of her tongue peeking out as she tried to hold it all in her two hands.

"Get those nougat bars out, Gracie! We are up for a Ladies' night until dawn!", she grinned, causing Grace to giggle.

She grabbed the armful of nougat bars and threw them on the bed, then jumped on the covers to join her sister, both of them giggling.

Lillian gave her one juice and laying on her stomach, she munched on the popcorns and looked expectantly at Grace.

Grace grinned as she grabbed a handful of popcorn and playfully shook her bended legs as she also laid on the stomach before popping a few popcorn in her mouth.

"So, how was Hope Valley?", asked Lillian.

Grace raised her eyebrows and breathed out.

"Oh, it was something alright!", she told Lillian about all the undercover idea making her sister laugh in disbelief.

"Oh, I cannot believe it that you've done that!", she chuckled as they munched on the popcorn "Did it work?"

Grace winked at her older sister.

"Like a charm. I got all the information until Lucas arrived…", she smiled widely as she remembered how he surprised her by coming into town a day earlier "When he got off that stage coach I forgot about everything else and didn't care that it was Saturday morning and that half of the town was there, Lillian", her voice shivered with emotions "I just wanted to hug him."

Lillian took her hand and held it tight. Grace smiled lovingly at her sister and wiped a few tears that rolled down her cheeks and let out a chuckle.

"I couldn't run fast enough to him and he started to run toward me and when he hugged me and kissed me after all those days, I felt like flying. Like I could do anything", she smiled happily "Like I don't have to fear anything."

Lillian smiled lovingly at her sister's happiness.

"Oh, I wish I could have seen that! It must have been wonderful!", then she moved a bowl of popcorn out of their way and crawled closer to her sister. As their heads almost touched Lillian grinned and asked, wiggling her eyebrows "Was the wicked witch there?"

Grace's eyes widened and as she glanced at her sister, both of them bursted to giggles!

"Oh, she was!", laughed Grace "Apparently, she complained to Rosemary that he never kissed her THAT way!", as those words left her mouth Grace giggled as Lillian screamed in her pillow.

"You don't say!!", Lillian giggled, her smile widening.

Grace chuckled and going closer to her sister's head, she whispered:

"Oh, but that was only the beginning!", she grinned as her cheeks blushed dark red "Lucas and I went to his office and we were…you know…", she stammered.

Lillian moved her hand in the air in a going forward motion.

"Getting reacquainted with each other", Lillian deadpanned sending Grace to another fit of giggles and she joined in, her eyes shining from happiness at seeing her little sister so happy.

Grace wiped tears of laughter.

"Oh, yes, we were getting reacquainted with each other and suddenly the doors just burst wide open and she was there! Furious as hell!", giggled Grace.

Lillian's eyes went wide open.

"The cow herself?! NO!!", as she and Grace giggled at another nickname Lillian gave to Elizabeth, her little sister buried her face in the pillow, shaking from laughter. "What did she mooed.. I'm sorry, said?", as another fit of laughter broke them down Grace put her head on her palms and smiled widely.

"Oh, she was too gobsmacked to utter a word! You should have seen the look on her face, Lillian!", she chuckled as she remembered what happened next "But, Lucas sent her away with one sentence only."

Lillian bit her lower lip, her eyes sparkling.

"Oh, what did he say?", she asked impatiently.

Grace looked down at the sheets, her blood warming up as she remembered how gently, warmly and lovingly did he brush her cheeks with his fingers as he spoke to Elizabeth in a cold tone of voice.

"He simply looked at her and said in the coldest tone of voice: 'Would you be so kind and close the doors when you leave?', all the time caressing my cheeks with his fingers", as those words left Grace's mouth, Lillian squealed in her pillow only to punch it a second later.

"Oh I bet the witch will never forget that!", she grinned "He was a mess without you, Grace! One day he just showed up, practically begging me to call you for him because he didn't want himself to call you due to the fact that the telephone operator might spread the word and make it hard for you and he wasn't there to protect you!", at Grace's teary look, Lillian put her hands up in a surrender "Hey, his words, not mine! Don't shoot the messenger, sis!"

Grace blinked fast to send the tears away.

"I love him so much, Lillian", she whispered.

Lillian took her hand in hers and gave her a soft smile.

"I know you do. And I can tell he adores you, Gracie", she said softly, squeezing her sister's palm gently.

Grace took a shivering breath in.

"She hurt him so badly, Lillian. And even that wasn't good enough for her, she did her best to break him once again now", Grace silently said, growing serious.

Lillian's facial expression turned serious as well.

"What do you mean? What happened?", she asked impatiently.

Grace swallowed hard and told her sister how Elizabeth lied to her students and the entire town that it was actually Lucas who dumped her and not vice versa. She told Lillian how Elizabeth sent her son to Hamilton on purpose, to stay there while Lucas is in Hope Valley.

Lillian could feel her heart breaking.

"He didn't get to see Jack?", she silently asked. At Grace's shake of head, she silently said "Oh, Grace! He was looking so much forward to see his little buddy!"

Grace nodded.

"I know. He even got him a birthday present. But, Elizabeth told Lucas that Jack won't be even coming home for the holidays, meaning that he'll be away for his birthday too which happens to be on Christmas. And Elizabeth won't go to Hamilton either", she said sadly.

Lillian shook her head in disbelief.

"That poor little boy. Why is she punishing him for something she had done?"

Grace smiled sadly.

"That's what I asked her too", she mumbled silently.

Lillian quickly moved into a sitting position and watched as Grace did the same.

"Wait, you talked to her?!", asked Lillian.

Grace slightly nodded.

"I told her that Jack needs her, that he already lost his Father and that she shouldn't let him lose a Mother too. I told her, just like Lucas did too, that she needs to get some help because she obviously didn't deal with her husband's death like she should", Grace said silently.

Lillian creased her eyebrows.

"Post-traumatic stress disorder", Lillian silently mumbled.

Grace nodded.

"I told her that her son needs a family, and uhhhmmm…", Grace stammered, looking down at the sheets, her eyesight getting misty.

Lillian watched her carefully, getting alarmed at her silence.

"Grace? What did she say to that?", Lillian gently asked, putting a strand curl behind Grace's ear "I can see that she said something that upset you."

Grace swallowed hard, her lower lip shivering.

"She asked me what would I know about a family as I never had one because nobody wanted me", her voice drifted into tears and Lillian quickly reached out and pulled her in a warm hug.

If Elizabeth Thornton was closer right now, Lillian would kill her 20 times already.

"That lying, selfish, hypocritical cow!", Lillian mumbled through gritted teeth as she tightened her hold on Grace. She kissed Grace's hair and gently whispered as she pulled slightly away and looked at her sister's tearful face "Gracie, remember what I told you. Always first look WHO is telling you something and then WHAT are they telling you", as Grace looked up at her, Lillian wiped her tears "Elizabeth wanted to hurt you. That's why she said that."

Grace pressed her lips tightly together.

"Lucas showed up at that moment telling her 'That's enough, Elizabeth!'. And I told her that I feel sorry for her because she lived a privileged, happy life and she has nothing to give. I told her

that she is a bitter, selfish woman who doesn't know how to love and that the only thing she knows how to do is to cause pain to others", Grace wiped her tears "And I ran off… I was crying so hard that I didn't see the car coming and…", she rambled on, but Lilian interrupted her gasping in shock:

"GRACE!! FOR GOODNESS' SAKE!", she yelped in fear, holding Grace for her upper arms and doing a quick look over for any visible injuries.

Grace felt awful for worrying her sister so much.

"I'm fine, Lillian. Lucas pulled me out of the harm's way and Dr. Carter checked up on me", she swallowed "I'm sorry, I didn't want to worry you."

Lillian hugged her tightly.

"Well, you are still going to see our doctor tomorrow…shush, no argument!", she said, her voice breaking "And you have to stop allowing others to get to you, Gracie, whenever they say something like that! You have a family now! You have me, you will always have me!", as those words left her mouth, Lillian broke down in tears from fear of losing her sister.

Grace quickly pulled her back in her arms and hugged her tightly.

"I know. I am so sorry. I promise I will try", Grace mumbled gently as Lillian cried in her embrace.

"What would I do if something happened to you?", asked Lillian "I searched for you for so long, Grace! Don't let other people get to you so much that it endangers your life!", pulling away, she wiped her tears "And I don't want you to promise to try. I want you to promise me that you will do it and stick to it, Grace!", she said through tears.

Grace's heart broke at seeing her sister in such distress.

She quickly took Lillian's palms in hers.

"I will, I promise. Please, don't cry, Lillian", she said softly as she gently wiped her sister's tears.

Lillian sniffed as she glanced at her.

"Well, it's your fault I'm crying. Make sure that doesn't happen again", Lillian mumbled through a wobbly smile.

Grace nodded.

"I promise", she whispered.

Lillian took a deep breath in and gently tweaked Grace's nose.

"Ow!", Grace yelped playfully and smiled as she saw traces of a smile on Lillian's face.

The sisters smiled at each other and went under the covers, facing each other as they continued to talk.

"So, what did Lucas say about Jack?", Lillian asked gently.

Grace sighed.

"He was so broken down, Lillian. Henry and I took him to Henry's, we sat up talking the whole night. It hurt him really hard when he heard that he won't be able to see his little buddy… Lillian… I was thinking about how to help him and Jack. My heart breaks for the two of them. I won't be able to rest if I don't try to do something", she nervously chewed on her lower lip.

Lillian creased her eyebrows.

"How, Grace? You can't just call Elizabeth's family, they don't even know you", said Lillian.

Grace nodded.

"I know", she smiled thoughtfully "But there is someone in Hamilton who might go and check on Jack."

Lillian took a sip of her juice.

"Who?", she asked as she took a handful of popcorn.

Grace took a handful of popcorn as well before she softly smiled.

"Do you remember Carson?, she asked.

Lillian nodded as she popped a few popcorn in her mouth.

"Dr. Shepherd from Hope Valley? Of course", she replied.

Grace took a sip of her juice before continuing.

"Well, he is living and working as a surgeon in Hamilton right now. Lucas will call him tomorrow and offer him a position at the Governor's Board of Health and a position as child's surgeon at the Capitol City Hospital", she bit her lower lip "I was thinking about calling Carson myself and ask him to pay a visit to the Thatchers and check on Jack."

Lillian was silent for a few moments before she nodded.

"That might be a good idea. Who knows how is the poor boy handling all this", Lillian shook her head.

Grace pressed her lips tightly together.

"Jack is the one who is suffering the most here. Nathan's niece Allie told Lucas that Jack misses him a lot and that Elizabeth never wants to talk to him about Lucas", she silently said.

Lillian felt her heart breaking.

"Poor kid. How can she be so cruel to her own son?", she asked.

Grace shook her head.

"I don't know, Lillian. I don't understand her at all. She doesn't want Lucas, but she doesn't want him to have anyone else either", she creased her eyebrows and shook her head "She told me that I waltzed in thinking I can take everything that's hers just because I helped Angela, a girl who can't see and comforted her student, a little girl who got upset by her and Lucas' argument."

Lillian huffed.

"Boy, she really neds help!", she grumbled.

Grace munched slowly at popcorn, falling silent for a while.

"I'm going to call Carson tomorrow once I get back from town", she said.

Lillian glared at her.

"And from seeing the doctor", she warned her little sister.

Grace lovingly rolled her eyes and gently smiled at her sister.

"AND from seeing the doctor", she agreed.

Lillian watched her carefully.

"Why do you have to go to town?", she asked.

Grace smiled.

"I have to go up to the bookstore and to the flea market. And to check up on something", she replied playfully.

Lillian raised her eyebrows.

"Why?", she asked.

Grace smile turned into a grin of excitement.

"Oh, it's a surprise for Lucas! But, if he calls while I am away, you can't tell him anything! Don't tell him that I am in town! Think of something…like…tell him I am taking a bath or something", she said, her smile widening.

Lucas' words echoed in Lillian's mind.

I really need to talk to you. But, please, don't tell Grace that you are going to see me. I want to do something for her. And I need your help. But, it's a surprise so you can't tell her.

And now her sister was also up and about to plan her own surprise for Lucas.

Oh, it's a surprise for Lucas! But, if he calls while I am away, you can't tell him anything! Don't tell him that I am in town! Think of something…like…tell him I am taking a bath or something.

Lillian rubbed her temples, feeling a headache setting in.

What am I?! A secret keeping agency?!

"Ugh, I need to sleep", grumbled Lillian, falling against her pillow and closing her eyes, placing an arm over her eyes and letting out a small yawn "I'm so tired. And I have a busy day tomorrow."

Grace got up to take the food and juices away before she jumped back into the bed.

"Anything I can help you with?", asked Grace.

Lillian shook her head.

"No, but thank you. This is something only I can do. I have some things to finish, then I have to cover up for you", she mumbled, causing Grace to smile.

And I have to cover up for Lucas.

"Well, I won't be away for long and I'll take care of things in here. When do you have to go to town?", asked Grace.

Lillian sighed.

"Around 15.30", she replied.

Grace nodded.

"Alright. I'll be home by then", she turned off the lamp "Good night, Lillian".

Lillian snuggled closer to her sister and whispered.

"Good night, Gracie."