Three years later

Nathan was uncomfortable. So very uncomfortable. He sat with Elizabeth and Kate in the backyard of their house and sighed, knowing that there was nothing he could do about it.

“Stop squirming,” Kate ordered from her place behind her painting easel. She had a palette of paint in one hand and a brush in the other as she stared at the canvas in front of her.

“Baby Bird, we’ve been posing for you for hours,” he teased. In all honesty, his leg had fallen asleep twenty minutes before. Still, there was no place he would rather be. His beautiful wife was sitting on his lap with their baby boy cradled in her arms.

“You squirm more than the baby and he’s only six months old.” Kate’s hand on her hip made her appear angry, but the smile on her face betrayed her true feelings. She loved her family, even if they were not the most cooperative models to paint.

“I’m not used to sitting this long.” Elizabeth shifted in Nathan’s lap. When their eyes met, she leaned in and gave him a quick kiss. They had been married for two years, but still seemed to be in the honeymoon phase. With any luck, they would stay that way the rest of their lives.

“Oh, stop it. This portrait is for mom for the party.” The painting was supposed to be a surprise gift for Diane and Kate knew that Elizabeth and Nathan wouldn’t want to disappoint her.

“A party I need to go put together the invitations for. They need to go out in the mail today,” Elizabeth pointed out.

They had been planning for weeks to celebrate the one year anniversary of the day their mother was declared cancer-free.

“I just need another three hours.”

“What? Three hours? Are you serious?” Elizabeth protested, trying to keep the baby still.

“I’m kidding!” Kate giggled, squinting at the painting. “I’m almost done.”

“Good.”

“So how is all the planning for the party going?”

Kate’s job was to complete the painting in time while Elizabeth’s was to take care of the invitations and the food.

“It’s all coming together.”

“She’s going to be so surprised,” Kate said triumphantly. Their mother was a hard woman to keep a secret from.

“You don’t think she’s going to be a little upset?” Elizabeth asked.

“Maybe a little, you know she hates to be the center of attention,” Nathan commented, certain that Diane was going to give them a hard time for fussing over her. Still, he knew that she would love having a house full of family and friends there to celebrate with her.

“But she’ll have to understand that we have to celebrate the one year anniversary of her being cancer-free,” Kate said.

“Absolutely!” Nathan nodded. It was a huge milestone. It had taken years of treatments and hard work from all of them to beat her disease.

“She was lucky to have such a dedicated doctor.” Kate smiled at her brother-in-law. Rebuilding their relationship had taken time, but, in the end, they were closer than ever and both Kate and Nathan were thankful for their bond.

“He’s very handsome too,” Elizabeth added, unable to resist kissing him again. Not that Nathan minded. In fact, if he had his way, he would spend the majority of his day kissing his wife.

“I hear he has a really clingy wife,” Kate snorted, with mock disgust on her face.

“Oh, hush,” Elizabeth snapped, glaring at her sister.

“I like when she clings to me.” Nathan pulled her closer to him despite the fact that the baby in her lap made it difficult.

“And I like to cling to you.” She leaned against him.

“No moving. You have to hold your poses!” Kate cried, clearly reaching the limits of her frustration.

“Couldn’t you have painted this from a photograph?” Nathan raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, but then I wouldn’t have gotten to torture you.” Kate grinned.

“You’re terrible!”

“I certainly try to be.”

“Is Bill coming?” Elizabeth had asked Nathan to hand-deliver his invitation the day before at the hospital.

“Of course. Diane would be disappointed if he didn’t. I think he’s going to bring his new girlfriend.”

“Really?” Kate looked surprised. William dated a lot but he had never brought a girlfriend around them before. Maybe that meant this one was a little more serious. “Do we like her?”

“She seems like a sweet girl,” Elizabeth said, though she hadn’t spent enough time around her to decide if she fully approved. She and Nathan had been on a few double dates with them, but she needed a bit more convincing before she would say the girl was worthy of one of her best friends.

“She better be. If it works out, she’s going to be part of the family,” Kate pointed out. William had always been close to the family, but through his support during Diane’s illness he had become a true part of it.

“He won’t keep her around if Diane doesn’t approve.” Nathan chuckled, knowing how much his friend valued the older woman’s opinion.

“Well, you know mom gets final approval on all spouses.” Elizabeth gave him a mischievous wink.

“You’re lucky she likes you,” Kate teased.

“I am,” he replied, feeling so fortunate that Diane had never lost faith in him. He sat there thinking about that in silence for a bit longer as Kate put the final touches on the painting.

“Okay, I think it’s finally done!” she exclaimed, pulling him from his thoughts.

“I want to see it!” Elizabeth jumped up from Nathan’s lap.

“I don’t like to watch people look at my work. Give me my nephew. I’ll go get him a bottle while you guys check it out.” Kate took the baby from her sister.

Nathan walked toward the canvas and was awestruck by what he saw there. He could think of nothing more beautiful than the happy family staring back at him.

“It’s perfect.” He pulled Elizabeth into his arms from behind as she studied Kate’s work.

“Look at our family!” She turned around to face her husband, staring into his eyes. “I know we took the long road to get here, but I wouldn’t trade our life together for anything.”

“Sometimes the long road makes us appreciate the destination even more.”

“I know exactly what you mean,” she said, cupping his face in her hands as he leaned down to kiss her.