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One year Later
Rose stood back in the dining room of the cabin she shared with Nathaniel, surveying the arrangement she’d set out.
“Everything all right?” Nathaniel asked, walking up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist.
She leaned into him, relaxing in his arms.
“I think we’re ready. What do you think?” She nodded to the table. Nathaniel had helped her make long benches around it. She’d gone out and picked wildflowers to put in jars as decorations. A large roast that she’d been preparing all day sat on the counter, ready to be served.
Nathaniel spun her around.
“I think they are going to love it. But you know they aren’t coming for the food or for the house. They’re coming to celebrate our growing family and us.” He placed a gentle hand on her stomach.
She looked down, a bright smile on her face. She would be a mother soon. There had been a time when it not only felt impossible to be a mother, but she’d thought she would never want to bring a child into such a chaotic life as the one she led.
Nathaniel had changed all that. He’d given her stability, a home, family, and friends. So much. Once upon a time, she’d wished that she could stay without memories forever because the ones that she was bringing back were too painful.
Over the last year, they’d made so many good memories that the bad ones were almost erased. They were no longer what she thought about, what plagued her. They lived in the back of her mind, a distant life that no longer held any power over her.
“Oh! I think that’s them now.” Nathaniel grinned, but he didn’t let her go. “Let me kiss you before we have to be proper all night.” He pressed a soft, slow kiss to her lips until they heard knocking on the door. His hands rested on her hips, pulling her as close as he could with her growing stomach between them.
It would be less than a few months before they were parents.
Rose giggled against his lips and gently pushed him away.
“Nathaniel! Later.” She shook her head, putting on her best scolding face. “We have to answer the door.”
Nathaniel chuckled, but he didn’t take his eyes off her as he left the room. She watched him go, her cheeks full of heat. He still made her question how real her life was every single day. Things had been so different back with Silas that living with Nathaniel was like learning to live all over again.
Thoughts of her brother dampened her mood for a moment. She sent him a letter once a month. She didn’t include a lot about her life, as she didn’t know how much he deserved to know, but part of her would not let her abandon him completely. He was her brother, and he was right; he had provided for her for years, and she’d never be able to forget that.
She wished that one day he would wake up and realize what kind of bad decisions had led him to where he was, and then he’d learn what he had been missing his whole life.
Rose made her way through the house and joined Nathaniel at the door. There, on the other side, stood a radiant-looking Margaret and Edmund, as well as the seven-year-old twins they’d adopted earlier that year from the orphanage in town.
Margaret rushed in, hugging Rose tightly.
“I’m so glad to see you! It feels like it’s been so long.”
Rose giggled against her friend’s shoulder. It had been less than ten days. Margaret and Edmund had taken a short trip to visit family. Usually, they lived across town, and she and Margaret saw each other no less than twice a week. Rose pulled back, saying hello to the children.
“Are Millie and Lottie coming?” Rene asked.
“They should be here any minute. Oh! There they are now.” Rose pointed to the wagon that made its way up the drive. Sure enough, it was Adelaide, Benjamin, Millie, Lottie, and their new baby brother, David.
Rose went through a similar ritual with Adelaide. She lived a little further than Margaret, but even so, they still had a tight friendship. Ever since the events of the wagon train, they had put any contention behind them.
In fact, anyone who met them wouldn’t even guess there had been an issue between them at one point.
Abram and Prudence were the last ones to show up. Rose gave Prudence the longest hug of all, and they laughed as they struggled with it around their swollen stomachs. Abram and Prudence had married only six weeks after her and Nathaniel, and they’d found out they were pregnant about a month after Rose and Nathaniel. Rose and Prudence were bonding over being pregnant at the same time. It helped that Abram’s ranch was less than a few minutes’ walk from Nathaniel’s homestead. Nathaniel’s parents joined them about fifteen minutes into dinner. They’d been running late, and when they arrived, fresh hellos went around the room. They’d come to have a soft spot for all the couples, and they all were one big happy family, together.
As Rose dished the food, she listened to the hum of conversation all around the dinner table. So much had changed in such a short time, and so many dreams she’d once thought impossible had come to be a reality. She pressed a hand over her heart, taking it all in. She wouldn’t change a thing about it.
Nathaniel
Nathaniel threw another log onto the fire. While the women cleaned up after dinner, he’d headed out with Benjamin, Edmund, and Abram to get a fire started outside. On the occasion they all got together as a group, the fire in the yard was what they enjoyed most. They would sit around it, sing, and tell stories.
It brought them back to the place where they’d all met, the happiness and camaraderie they’d found from those days.
“So, are you ready to be a father?” Abram asked.
Nathaniel chuckled.
“I could ask you the same thing. We should ask the two of you, though, since you have experience, what should we be preparing for?” Nathaniel looked over at Edmund and Benjamin, who were settling down on the logs they’d set around the fire.
The two chuckled, exchanging looks.
“Nothing can prepare you to be a father. It just happens, and then you learn how to do it as you go.” Edmund shook his head. “I realized that when we brought home the twins. One boy and one girl, all of a sudden, no baby stage, all at once. It was a lot to take in.” He sighed. “But it’s great. Every challenge we’ve had has helped us grow in some way or another.”
Nathaniel nodded in approval at his friend’s answer. Edmund and Margaret had wanted children for years before they’d taken in the twins who needed a home.
“You’ve got that right. I thought that I was a seasoned father, and then David was born, and it feels like we’re starting over and learning everything all over again.” He shook his head. “That boy is going to know how to get his way, though. I can already tell both Adelaide and I will want to spoil him.”
Everyone around the fire laughed.
“I hear that Jeremy may move to town, since he was released a couple of months ago. A friend of mine who works with the marshal sent me a telegram.”
Abram commanded everyone’s attention. “Could be a good thing. I don’t have anything against Jeremy. I’m glad he’s made the right moves to turn his life around.”
The others nodded. “I suppose it shows that anything is possible.” Edmund looked thoughtful for a second, then the mood shifted as the women and children came out and joined them from the cabin. The sun disappeared behind the horizon as Edmund took out his guitar and started strumming. The notes of Oh Sussanah filled the yard, and everyone joined in, lifting their voices.
Nathaniel pulled out his harmonica as he sent a smile in Rose’s direction. He loved seeing her happy, seeing her loved by everyone as much as he loved her. He pressed his lips to the harmonica and joined in on the song. As the melody worked together, the music washed over everyone in the clearing.
Lottie and Millie played outside the circle of adults with Rene and Tommy, the twins. David grinned and drooled on his mother’s lap, as Adelaide bounced him to the rhythm.
When they were done with the song, silence settled over the fire until Nathaniel’s mother spoke up.
“You know, I used to think I’d never have my family back. We lost so much the day my daughter-in-law died. But things really do work together for good. You all went through so much, but a part of me is thankful to those outlaws you faced in the wilderness, because as a result, you all ended up so close to one another, and built a bigger family than I’d ever imagined possible.”
Nathaniel smiled at his mother as she wiped away a tear.
“Well, Ma, I don’t think you have to worry about us going anywhere soon. My days as a wagon train captain are done, at least for the moment. We all like this, stability and family.” He wrapped an arm around Rose, pulling her close for a second, savoring the feeling of having her in his arms.
“Nathaniel is right about that. Just last month, I got offered a position to be the new marshal over in that town on the Oregon Trail, where the last marshal helped us stop Silas’s gang. I turned it down without a thought.” Abram smiled, revealing the news that he’d not even considered leaving. “There’s no place like home, and home is where your people are.”
Nods of agreement went up around the fire.
“What should we sing next?” Edmund asked, testing out a few chords. The children came back around the fire, talking softly, and Lottie spoke up.
“How about Old Dan Tucker?” she asked with an excited squeal.
“Old Dan Tucker it is!” Benjamin laughed at the suggestion and started belting the lyrics. The rest of them joined in, the new song taking over the clearing. Nathaniel’s eyes misted as he looked around.
His friends, who were more like brothers to him, his wife, who was the other piece of him, his parents, who had raised him and loved him through everything, and the children, who were the next generation. They were all a part of his story, of his healing. Not everyone got a second chance, or a happy ending, and yet, he’d gotten both.
He didn’t know what challenges awaited them. Life could change at any moment, and having Jeremy come to town would be an adjustment. Things were still difficult between Rose and her brother, and they might never be okay. But he knew that what mattered, the relationships with people who cared for them, were there forever. They knew who their real friends were, and they knew what they would do for one another, because they’d already been tested.
They’d been through hardships that others could only imagine. Nathaniel was certain they could overcome anything they faced, no matter how hard it was.
As he played the last note of the song, Rose hugged his arm, leaning her head on his shoulder.
“I love you,” she whispered.
“I love you too, and that will never change,” he said, leaning his head down against hers and placing his hand on her stomach. Soon, they’d bring their own children into the world, and it would be their job to provide them with a happy, stable home, raising them to be the next men and women of the frontier. He couldn’t think of a bigger honor, or someone he would rather do it beside.
OFFER: A BRAND NEW SERIES AND 2 FREEBIES FOR YOU!
Grab my new series, "Western Hearts United", and get 2 FREE novels as a gift! Have a look here!
Hello my dears, I hope you enjoyed the book and the Extended Epilogue! I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments here. Thank you 🙂
Thank you so much for the exciting adventure. It always amazes me how each author has a different personality and how awesome the story is. Hocked on westerns. Thank you.
Thank you so much, that really means a lot. I’m so glad you enjoyed the story, dear Karen. 😊
This was a great and exciting story. The memory loss and gradual return fascinated me with the help and care that Nathaniel and the wagon train gave Rose. The EE was the icing on the cake. Great human interest story.
Thank you, dear Patricia! I’m really glad you enjoyed the story and connected with Rose’s journey. 😊