A few hours later, Allie was sitting up in a bed at the infirmary. After looking her over and asking her a dozen questions, Faith declared that Allie's left arm was indeed broken, but that her ankle was only sprained. Faith wanted Allie to stay overnight, just to make sure she didn't have a head injury.

"We should get you out of those mud-soaked clothes," Elizabeth said, once Faith had cleaned the scrapes on Allie's face and wrapped the girl's ankle. As if on cue, the door to the infirmary burst open and Rosemary stepped inside.

"I think you might need some of these," she said, handing Elizabeth a pile of spare clothes. "When I saw the three of you ride back into town, I took the liberty to grab a few things that I thought Allie might need."

"Thanks Mrs. Coulter," Allie said, with a smile and Elizabeth thanked her friend as well. Meanwhile, Nathan was just staring at Rosemary, his eyebrows furrowed.

"How did you get into the house?" he asked, eyeing Rosemary as if he was trying to solve a puzzle.

"I used your spare key," Rosemary answered breezily, with a smile. This just seemed to increase Nathan's confusion and Allie tried not to laugh at the expression on her dad's face.

"But it's hidden!" Nathan burst out, slightly incredulous.

"Yeah, under a flower pot," Rosemary responded, with an eye roll. "Seriously, Nathan. I figured that a Mountie would be able to find a better hiding spot."

"She has a point, Dad," Allie piped up, raising an eyebrow as she smirked. Elizabeth and Faith both looked like they were about to burst out laughing.

"Alright, alright," Nathan replied, holding up his hands in mock surrender. "I will find a better hiding spot. Thank you, Rosemary." At that, Rosemary grinned in satisfaction.

"You are very welcome." A few minutes later, Rosemary left to return home and Nathan went to unsaddle and feed the horses. Faith and Elizabeth helped Allie change out of her mud-stained clothes and she was settled back on the bed by the time Nathan returned.

"You don't have to spend the night here with me, Dad," Allie said as Faith rewrapped her arm.

"Really?" Nathan's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Are you sure?"

"I could stay with you too, Allie," Elizabeth offered. "I don't mind."

"I'll be fine," Allie replied, waving her hand. She'd already taken up so much of everybody's time today, she didn't think it was fair to ask anyone to stay with her. "Really," she added when her dad and her teacher didn't look convinced. Besides, I'm a teenager, Allie reasoned. I can spend one night in the infirmary by myself. But half an hour later, after Nathan and Elizabeth had both very reluctantly left, Allie was having second thoughts. Faith was still there packing up her stuff to go home, but Allie already felt herself starting to get creeped out.

Suddenly, the unfamiliar room felt cold and empty. Allie had never really been scared of the dark, but now, her imagination seemed to kick into overdrive. Stop it, Allie scolded herself, as she looked around the dark room. You aren't a little kid anymore. There are no such thing as monsters. There are no such thing as ghosts. But as the full moon shone through the window and cast a shadow across the bed, Allie suddenly wasn't so sure. But before her imagination could totally run away from her, Allie heard the door to the infirmary creak open.

In the dark, Allie couldn't tell who had walked in, but they whispered something to Faith, who nodded in return. Allie watched as Faith slipped out of the infirmary and the other person quietly closed the door behind her. It wasn't until the person got closer that Allie realized who it was.

"Mrs. Thornton?" she said, her voice holding a question.

"Hi Allie," Elizabeth said with a smile. She had a shawl around her shoulders and was now wearing a light blue blouse and a flowy white skirt. "Are you OK if I stay with you tonight? I know you said you were fine, but…"

"That would be great," Allie said, quickly. "But what about Little Jack?"

"He was already asleep at the Coulters when I went to get him, so Rosemary offered to just have him spend the night."

"Oh, well in that case…" Allie smiled up at her teacher. "Honestly, I was starting to get a little creeped out," she admitted. Elizabeth smiled and chuckled softly.

"I think I would feel the same way," she replied. "Here, I brought you a few things I thought you might want," Elizabeth added, holding up some toiletries. She set them down on the desk and then held up a hair brush. "I can brush your hair for you if you'd like." At the suggestion, Allie's breath caught and her heart skipped a beat. Her mom used to brush her hair when she was little. It was one of the things that Allie had missed most about having a mom.

"Sure," Allie finally replied. "I'd like that." Elizabeth settled behind her on the bed and slowly began to run the brush through Allie's long hair. Even though Elizabeth couldn't see, Allie squeezed her eyes shut in an effort not to cry. So this is what having a mom feels like, she couldn't help but think.

"Allie, I think we should talk about something," Elizabeth said after a minute, breaking the comfortable silence that had settled between them. Allie had sudden flashbacks to the day many years ago when she'd tried to invite Mrs. Thornton to dinner with her dad.

"What?" Allie asked, silently praying that this would go better than that time. When Elizabeth didn't answer right away, Allie turned around to face her teacher.

"About you calling me 'Mom'," Elizabeth said after a moment, raising an eyebrow slightly as she carefully studied Allie's expression. Allie's face immediately turned red and she quickly averted her eyes.

"I guess I've just been calling you 'Mom' in my head for so long that it just came out," she admitted, still not looking at Elizabeth. "I'm sorry."

"Allie." Elizabeth reached out and squeezed Allie's hand, which caused Allie to look up. "I'm not mad," Elizabeth said. "I just thought that maybe we should talk about it." Allie nodded, but didn't know what else to say so she just averted her eyes again. "Maybe we should talk about you calling me something other than Mrs. Thornton." At this, Allie lifted her gaze again.

"Maybe Miss Elizabeth?" Elizabeth suggested. "Or just Elizabeth, if your dad's OK with it." Allie nodded, but then she bit her lip, not sure that she wanted to say what she was thinking.

"Allie?" Elizabeth questioned gently, noticing the look on the girl's face. "What is it?"

"It's nothing," Allie said, turning so that she was fully facing Elizabeth. "It's just… I don't want to call you anything else." Now, Allie dared a glance up at her teacher. "I just want to call you 'Mom'." As the full meaning of Allie's words hit her, now it was Elizabeth's eyes that welled up with tears.

"Oh, Allie," she said, lifting her hands to gently cup the girl's cheeks. "I love you. You know that right?" Allie managed to nod, but the teenager's eyes sparkled with unshed tears. "I know I've never said it out loud, but I care about you and love you like a daughter.

"I never want to replace your mom," Elizabeth continued. "But I'd love to be your mom one day."

"Does that mean that you and Dad are going to get married?" Allie asked, her heart suddenly blooming with hope as she realized that the dream she'd almost given up hope on might actually come true.

"We've talked about it," Elizabeth replied. "It's what both of us want, but we also don't want to rush things."

"That makes sense," Allie said with a nod. "But maybe you don't have to wait too," A small smile appeared on her face. At this, Elizabeth laughed.

"I can assure you that it will be much sooner than that." At this, Allie smiled shyly.

"Good," she said. "So, maybe I can just keep calling you 'Mrs. Thornton' for now and then I could call you 'Mom' once you and Dad are married?"

"Is that what you would like?" Elizabeth asked her and Allie nodded. Elizabeth smiled and squeezed the girl's hand again. "Then, that sounds perfect to me." Hearing this, Allie grinned and reached over to hug Elizabeth with her good arm.

"Thanks, Mrs. Thornton. I love you too," Allie whispered. Elizabeth kissed her forehead lightly before pulling back.

"I love you too, Allie. And I'm sorry to hear what happened at school today." Seeing Allie's confused look, Elizabeth added, "Your dad told me after we left."

"Oh, yeah. That." Allie just stared down at her hands in her lap.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Elizabeth offered and Allie looked back up.

"Yes, but maybe not right now," Allie replied. "It's been kind of a long day. Is that OK?"

"Of course it is, Allie," her teacher replied. "But I'm here if you ever want to talk about it."

Now, Allie smiled. "Thanks, Mrs. Thornton." The pair just smiled at each other for a moment before the door to the infirmary opened again causing both of them to turn and look.

"Well, what are you two up to?" Nathan asked, as he closed the door behind him.

"Just talking," Elizabeth replied and she and Allie shared a smile.

"What are you doing here, Dad?" Allie asked as he came over to the bed.

"You didn't really think I would let you spend the night here alone, now did you?" he answered and Allie and Elizabeth just laughed. Nathan took a seat in a chair next to the bed. For the next hour, the three of them talked. Nathan told stories about when Allie was little and Elizabeth shared her misadventures from when she had first come to Hope Valley. They talked about nothing and everything all at once. And Allie couldn't have wished for anything better.

It was like for that one hour, she actually had a family. She was a daughter with a mom and a dad. And Allie had never felt more loved than she did at that exact moment.

Elizabeth watched as Allie's eyelids drifted closed and her breathing slowly deepened.

"I think she's asleep," she whispered to Nathan. He was still in the chair next to the bed while Elizabeth was now lying down next to Allie, gently running her hand through the girl's hair.

"Well, she's had quite a day," Nathan replied as he watched his daughter sleep peacefully. "I'm so glad we found her."

"Me too." They were silent for a minute before Nathan whispered,

"I've never been so scared in my entire life. It was different from when she went to Grandville last year," he said. "At least then we knew where she was. But not having a clue where she had gone?" Nathan shook his head. "I don't know what I would have done if we hadn't been able to find her."

"We would have found her, Nathan," Elizabeth said, finding his gaze. "Even if we had to search all night."

"Did you talk to her about how she called you 'Mom' earlier?" Nathan asked, after a second.

"How did you know?" Elizabeth questioned with a smile. Now, Nathan just grinned.

"Because I know you," he replied. Elizabeth scrunched up her nose a little as she shook her head. That was one of the things she loved most about Nathan. He could read her like a book.

"I did," Elizabeth said, answering his earlier question. "She told me that she's been calling me 'Mom' in her head for so long that it just slipped out."

"Oh," was all Nathan said in reply. He obviously hadn't known that.

"I offered to let her call me 'Miss Elizabeth' or 'Elizabeth' if it was OK with you."

"And what did she say?" Nathan asked, leaning forward slightly.

"She said that she'd rather just wait and call me 'Mom' after we're married." At her answer, Nathan's eyebrows shot up.

"Really?" he questioned.

"Really," Elizabeth confirmed with a nod. "But she did make me promise not to wait five years," she added with a grin. At this, Nathan seemed to choke down a laugh.

"I don't think Bill and Rosemary would allow that either," he said.

"And neither would I." Elizabeth smiled over at Nathan and he held her gaze. He didn't need to thank her for coming with him to find Allie today. He knew that she couldn't have imagined staying behind. As Elizabeth glanced down at Allie, she had a sudden flashback of the young, shy girl who had walked into her classroom, and her life, all those years ago. Now, Allie was a kind, mature, and intelligent young woman with a bright future ahead of her. And Elizabeth knew that she didn't want to miss a moment of it.

Allie smiled slightly as she listened to her dad and Mrs. Thornton whisper back and forth. She wasn't asleep, but Allie didn't open her eyes. Today had been one of the hardest days Allie had ever had, both physically and emotionally, but even still, Allie knew that there was no place she'd rather be. She could fall asleep knowing that the two people who loved her most in the world were right by her side. And Allie knew that both of them would still be there when she woke up.

Author's Note: Thank you all so much for reading! I would love to hear your thoughts, so feel free to leave a comment below! :)