Epilogue

Elizabeth and Nathan settled back into the routine of their small farm in Hope Valley, and the house managed to fold in the twins and Rebecca nicely. In fact, Elizabeth and Nathan had no idea how they would have managed without Rebecca, Archie and Allie to help with the children.

Until the little guest house in the trees was completed for Nathan's mother, she had taken the room across the hall from Archie's. Nathan had to admit there was a surreal nature to stepping out of his bedroom at the end of the long hall and seeing his parents chatting amiably in the hallway, or coming upon them at the harvest table, laughing over coffee. If it told him anything, it was that nothing was really over until it was over.

"What's going on with those two?" Nathan finally asked Elizabeth, as they lay in the dark of their bedroom. It was their favorite time of night, after everyone was fed and tucked in, and they could cuddle together and share their thoughts on the day. Tonight was one of the rare occasions when Jack and the twins gave them the gift of being asleep at the same time, and Elizabeth and Nathan never wanted to waste the opportunity for one of their talks, whispering in their feather bed with the moonlight streaming in.

Elizabeth chuckled. "You don't know?"

Nathan sighed. "Am I the last one at the party again?" he said, shaking his head. He turned and looked at her in the half-light. "Please don't tell me my parents are falling in love with each other," he said with a groan.

"Okay," Elizabeth said, snuggling into his warm neck. "I won't tell you."

Nathan brought his arm up and laid it across his eyes. "Oh... there's a reason children are usually born after all this happens."

Elizabeth laughed. "It's romantic! They're adorable together, and you can tell they never stopped loving each other."

"Stop! Please," Nathan said, but now he was laughing too.

"Would you rather they were at each other's throats? They could be, you know."

Nathan released another huge sigh. "No. I don't want that." He turned and kissed Elizabeth on the forehead. "Just give me a little time to get used to the idea and I'll be happy for them."

Elizabeth wrapped her arms around his chest and hugged him tighter. "Good for you. I love that about you. You may need a little time, but you always make the right choice."

Nathan groaned again.

"What?" Elizabeth said, looking over at him.

"When the house is built out back... am I going to catch my father sneaking out there? I already have my hands full with Allie and Robert up in that treehouse..."

Elizabeth laughed softly. "Oh, my sweet love..." she kissed him on the cheek. "You don't have to be in control of everything, you know? It's got to be exhausting. I know it's the Mountie code or something, but sometimes you just have to know that everything will work out on its own. You've raised Allie with good sense and you can trust her. And your parents?" Elizabeth ran her fingers gently through his hair. "Love is a wonderful thing in any form. And especially when two people you love end up loving each other."

Nathan turned suddenly and pulled Elizabeth to him and kissed her. A long, slow kiss that had them both breathless when he finally moved her head gently to his shoulder. He whispered fiercely into the softness of her hair. "I can't imagine my life without you, angel."

"You don't need to," she said, catching her breath. "I'm right here. And I always will be."

Nathan pulled away and looked into her eyes in the light of the moon. "Promise?"

Elizabeth kissed him tenderly. "I already have," she said.

Carson and Faith loved their evening walks, and they were especially welcome these days. For the two weeks Carson was gone, Faith had been alone in managing the screening of everyone coming into Hope Valley, while still trying to keep herself healthy. Carson knew he had put a lot of responsibility on her, and he also knew she had handled it flawlessly.

"We're a good team, Faith," Carson said as they walked back from the church to the town. It was a full moon and the evening was cool, but not cold.

Faith looked up at him. "We are," she said. "But I missed you." She looked out at the pond and the lights shining in the windows at the Grant Farm. "I knew why you had to be there, and I'm so happy for Elizabeth and her wonderful family. And those beautiful babies," Faith said softly. She stopped for a moment and put her hand on Carson's cheek. "But I was so glad to see the car come around the corner."

Carson bent to kiss her and felt her shiver a little. He wrapped his arms around her tightly and they held there for a time, listening to the crickets in the meadow and the frogs singing out on the pond.

"You're cold," Carson said, rubbing his hands up and down on her arms.

Faith laughed, "No, I'm happy. I thought a lot about doing this while you were in Hamilton." She turned and threaded her arm through his as they started walking again.

"We've spent so much time apart," Carson said. He turned to her. "Sometimes couples drift apart with distance..."

Faith smiled up at him. "Are you asking me how I feel, Carson? Because I think I love you more every day, whether you're here or not. We work together, we spend evenings together, we never stop talking..." Faith laughed again. "There's so much I always want to tell you, you're the first person I think of in the morning and the last person I think of at night."

They passed the Queen of Hearts as they entered the town again. They could hear the piano playing, and happy voices raised in conversation and laughter. Carson was uncharacteristically quiet, and Faith stopped in the middle of the street. She turned him so his face was in the full light of the moon and said, concerned, "What is it?"

Faith's heart started pounding when he still didn't answer. She was suddenly afraid that perhaps she was feeling more than he was, perhaps he hadn't missed her quite as much as she'd missed him.

Perhaps she'd said too much.

"Carson, I..." Faith started. And then, in the middle of the street, in the light of a full moon, Carson bent down on one knee and looked up at her.

If Faith's heart was pounding before, now it was in danger of beating right out of her chest. She put both hands up to her mouth. "Oh," she said softly. Behind Carson, she could see Ned Yost pulling displays in from in front of the Mercantile. He stopped and looked, and then Fiona came up behind him and she stood still, watching. Faith looked around, and there were people on all sides of them who were looking curiously at them. To be fair, they were absolutely in the middle of the street and Carson was on one knee.

Carson looked around too and laughed. He shook his head and looked up at her. "Do you know where we are?" he asked.

"Yes," Faith said. "It's where you first kissed me in public, and..." she turned and looked behind her. "Florence and Molly were right there..." She turned a little further and laughed, "But now, they're there..." she said, seeing that Molly and Florence were on the boardwalk and had also stopped and were staring.

The door to the saloon opened and the music and laughter got louder as Jesse and Clara stepped out and stopped in their tracks. And now Carson really had a problem because Kurt Lawson's wagon was heading toward them.

"Stop!" Faith called out to Kurt and he pulled the horses up. She looked down at Carson and laughed again. "You'd better get on with this, or we're both going to end up in the Infirmary," she said quickly. "And not in a good way."

Carson laughed and dug into his pocket, pulling out a ring box. He opened it and said, "This is good, because I can't remember everything I planned to say anyway." He took a deep breath and glanced up at Kurt who had an eyebrow raised and looked impatient.

"Don't take all night with it," Kurt called out, but a smile was forming in the corner of his mouth as well.

Carson took Faith's hand. "Faith Carter, I love you so much. I love your huge heart, your brilliant mind, your sweet smile... I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Please say you'll marry me."

Faith could hardly see Carson through the tears that were filling her eyes.

"Say yes!" Kurt said, now laughing.

"Yes!" Faith said, pulling Carson up off of the ground and kissing him. He held her tightly, joyfully, and then took her hand and led her over to the boardwalk, saying, "Thanks, Kurt!"

"Congratulations! Hup..." Kurt said, getting the horses started again as the wagon lumbered by the happy couple. Once Kurt was beyond the saloon, Faith and Carson could see just how many people were standing around, and Jesse started the applause. "Well done, Carson! Very dramatic!"

Lucas and Julie had stepped out of Le Bistro to see what was going on and now they stood, arms around each other watching Carson and Faith's engagement unfold in the middle of the street. Lucas looked at Julie in the moonlight and leaned down to kiss her. He held up her hand and kissed the ring he'd given her at Christmas.

"I have half a mind to spirit you away and marry you tonight," he said, his eyes sparkling.

"I wouldn't say no," Julie said, raising her chin almost on a dare. "Henry left his car with you." Julie raised an eyebrow and smiled rebelliously. "You know it's always my favorite thing to do what people don't expect."

Lucas narrowed his eyes and looked over at Bill Avery's office.

Julie took hold of his chin and turned his face back to her. "No, that would be boring and predictable." She bit her lip. "And we are not boring and predictable."

Lucas lifted her up and hugged her tightly, making her giggle. "Then I say..." he said, looking around as if they were spies, "...we get Henry's car and go wake up the Justice of the Peace in Benson Hills. I'll tell him it's an emergency... A marriage emergency."

Julie laughed and kissed him. "I love you. No one could be better for me than you. I can't wait to feel just like this forever."

Lucas held her tightly. "I love you too, my Julia. Life with you will always be an adventure," he said, looking at her in wonder. Then he took her hand and led her back into Le Bistro. They would tell Gustav and no one else. And they would spend the night, married, at the Benson Hills Hotel.

Mr. and Mrs. Lucas Bouchard, joined due to a marriage emergency, which was basically because they loved each other too much to wait.

Pastor Zeke had now become a fixture in Hope Valley, so it wasn't out of practicality that Rosemary and Elizabeth decided to have Violet christened along with Nate and Becca. They just couldn't imagine doing it any other way.

Elizabeth had truly missed Rosemary and their long talks while she was in Hamilton, especially with so much going on with both of them. So the path between the houses was now cleared, in part because of Nathan and Lee's hard work, but most of all because there seemed to always be someone on it to trample the grass. The children running back and forth, or Rosemary pushing Violet in her stroller, or Elizabeth doing the same with Nate and Becca going the other direction.

And that was a sight to behold. Before Nathan and Elizabeth left for Hamilton, Nathan had put the finishing touches on a gift for Elizabeth. She believed he was still working on the second crib for the twins, but he'd finished that long before. Nathan was fashioning a double stroller for the babies. He'd had Ned get him two strollers, and through ingenuity and his natural skill, he'd managed to create something that Elizabeth could use to transport Nate and Becca through a town that quite simply couldn't get enough of them. It could sometimes take her an hour to move from the Mercantile to the church road.

Elizabeth usually missed school in the summers when it wasn't in session, and now that Laura was teaching the students, Elizabeth thought she would feel the same way; but she didn't. Jack, at two-and-a-half, was strong-willed, while simultaneously an utter joy to be with. Elizabeth loved watching his mind work, and no longer did she have to come home from school to find he'd said four new words or was able to reach up to the counter in the kitchen.

Now she saw it all, and that, in combination with watching as Nate and Becca seemed to grow before her eyes, made Elizabeth as happy as she could remember being. And when folks asked if she missed teaching, she would look at the three children and say, laughing, "When did I stop?"

Allie and Jessie would often come with them on walks, but they also had a wide circle of friends. Elizabeth was watching Nathan as he slowly released his grasp on Allie, so necessary for so long, but no longer needed. Allie was a smart and good-hearted girl who clearly knew right from wrong, as Jessie did. The fact that Robert Wolf had a terrific crush on Allie, and she was beginning to have glimmers of the same, was just another stage that Nathan had to move through. Allie at fourteen was becoming a young woman, but the little girl in her still needed her father's strong arms and loving presence. Watching Nathan walk that path with a few stumbles, but mostly grace, made Elizabeth love him even more.

Carson and Faith were married in early June, just before Nathan and Elizabeth's anniversary. Stella caught the bouquet, while Hickam turned four shades of crimson.

Julie found out she was expecting soon after that, which was a source of great joy for the town, and Lucas was so proud that he handed out a cigar to every man who walked into the Queen of Hearts for an entire week. Impending fatherhood and the success of Le Bistro allowed him to do something he'd been thinking about for a while. The saloon was being used more for family events these days than anything else, but the men still wanted a place to play cards and have a beer once in a while. So Lucas expanded, building a large card room with a long bar in the back, and converting the saloon into a meeting space. He felt no need to change the name, as he said Julia Bouchard was now the queen of his heart and it was in honor of her.

The miracle of the summer was when Rosemary and Lee, right after Violet's first birthday, learned the same happy news as Julie and Lucas. Carson thought Rosemary might break his back she hugged him so tightly, and Lee even outdid Lucas on the cigars.

But what occurred toward the end of the summer, right in front of half the town, had people smiling just as much as any of the above.

As Bill and Nathan sipped their coffee on the boardwalk, the stage appeared. Continuing their conversation, they glanced casually at those exiting the coach, until Nathan heard Bill stop in mid-sentence and take in a breath that had him choking on his coffee. Nathan slapped him on the back a few times, but Bill still wasn't able to speak by the time a woman had walked on long legs and attitude all the way to where they stood.

Her hat tilted a little over her blonde hair, her eyes sparkling and a wicked smile on her face, AJ Foster stopped with her hands on her hips. "Well, Bill Avery, as I live and breathe. Wasn't sure you'd still be here, being a big important judge and all."

Bill cleared his throat, but words still eluded him.

AJ laughed. "Never heard you so quiet. Perhaps you'd buy a lady a beer?" She put her arm through his and Nathan watched, chuckling, as Bill went with her, docile as a lamb. Right before they went into the saloon, AJ threw her head back and laughed. Bill turned and looked at Nathan with a smile and shrugged.

AJ never left Hope Valley.

Elizabeth handed Nate gently to Nathan while she finished feeding Becca. She was pushing slightly on the wood of the porch to keep the swing moving in small circles.

It was a warm night, late summer, and Nathan and Elizabeth and the babies had found themselves out on the front porch in the second swing they'd set up as soon as the snow stopped. They couldn't bring themselves to take the other one out of the sunroom, so now they had two places to rock the twins to sleep.

The sun was about half an hour from setting with the reflection on the pond beginning its transition from yellow to orange and finally to a deep red.

"I have a surprise for you," Nathan said to Elizabeth.

She raised her eyebrows and looked at him. "You are a constant surprise, my love," she said, her eyes soft. "You have been from the day I met you."

"Well, get ready for another one," he said, laying Nate down gently on the swing next to Elizabeth.

Then he bent and kissed Elizabeth slowly and tenderly, whispering, "I'll be right back."

Her eyes still closed, Elizabeth said, "I'll be right here."

She heard the front door close and looked out at the sunset. Squinting against the blaze of golden light, Elizabeth sighed. Thank you, God, for this life, this man, these children, this town. Please don't ever doubt the gratitude that fills my heart every day for all I've been given...

Behind her, she heard the door close again, and then, the soft strumming of a guitar. Nathan walked around and placed a stool across from her. He sat down and began to play. Then his voice, the voice she loved so dearly...

The water is wide, I cannot cross o'er

And neither have I wings to fly

Give me a boat that can carry two

And both shall cross, my true love and I...

Elizabeth didn't even wipe away the tears that fell as she listened. With Becca asleep on her lap and Nate's eyes closing next to her, she looked at Nathan.

"You've been practicing," she said, when he finished the song.

"I promised," he said to her.

"It's so beautiful, Nathan. Your voice..."

Nathan stood and set the guitar on the stool. He picked Nate up and put him on his chest gently, and then sat next to Elizabeth on the swing.

Nathan looked into her eyes, wondering if there would ever be a time that his breath wouldn't catch at the look of his wife in the light of the sunset. He leaned over, meaning to kiss her, and the door opened again.

"Interruptions," Nathan said nearly against her lips, and Elizabeth laughed softly.

Allie's voice came from behind them. "Are you two kissing again?"

"Not yet," Nathan said, smiling. "Who wants to know?"

"Jack and me," Allie said softly, just in case Becca and Nate were sleeping.

"Well, then, come here and see for yourself," Nathan said, "But quietly, we're just getting them to sleep."

Allie cuddled in next to Elizabeth, and Jack climbed up next to Nathan. The sun was in its splendor now, and heading down toward the other side of the world. They all sat in silence for a few moments.

"I don't want them to grow up," Allie said softly. She turned and gazed at Becca, watching as the final rays of the sun formed a halo in her downy dark hair.

Elizabeth smiled. "I know, we feel the same about you." She held Allie tighter. "It happens so fast."

Nathan shifted Nate and made space for Jack to climb up on his lap. He let his lips rest on Jack's head and pushed the swing gently.

"I'm going to enjoy every minute," Allie whispered.

Nathan looked at Elizabeth with a deep well of love in his eyes and said softly to Allie, "So am I."

Nathan snuggled up against Elizabeth and put his arm around Jack. They all watched in silence. In a perfect circle of love.

A family.

Author's note: A huge thank you to everyone who came on this journey with Nathan and Elizabeth. You've been so supportive and kind in your comments, and it's meant so much that you've stayed through to the end! Now we'll look forward to seeing their love play out on When Calls The Heart.

(And I hope you'll take a look at my new story: Love's Destiny. It's Nathan and Elizabeth, with a twist.)