Archive of Our Own ^beta

Yesterday had been a big day for Colleen Cooper. After a fast two years, but also a slow two years at times, she graduated from college with dreams of attending medical school soon. A letter determining that future was tucked in her purse at the moment, safe where she placed it unopened a couple days before leaving Denver. She was simply too nervous to open it, way too nervous, because as much as she wanted to become a doctor like Dr. Mike, it would mean a big change in her life not only for her but also the people she loved. Especially Andrew. The contents of this letter could make both of their dreams, the same dream to work together someday, come true. He had come to Denver for her graduation, which thrilled Colleen and gave her the confidence to get through her speech without fainting. That's why she needed to show him this letter first. He was busy at the Chateau all day to make up for his time off and Colleen had been too happy yesterday, and surrounded by too many other people, to really spend time with just him. Today had been a long wait and she was positive Dr. Mike noticed something amiss, but finally the time came for Andrew to pick up Colleen at the clinic for some much needed alone time before dinner.

"Alright," Andrew stopped them on the bridge near the church after they had been walking quietly for a bit, turning to face her. "What is it?"

"Nothing," Colleen answered, looking away, feeling nervous all over again.

"Colleen..." A finger on her chin tilted her face towards him. Of course he would notice she was being unusually quiet.

Unable to resist his pointed stare when her eyes met his, Colleen opened the purse hanging from her wrist and took out the unopened letter she had been keeping there. "I got a letter."

"I can see that."

"It's from the Women's College of Pennsylvania." Colleen nervously gripped it in both hands. "The same one Ma went to. I've been too nervous to open it."

"You're going to get accepted, darling."

"You're probably right but Andrew, what if I do?"

Colleen hadn't thought about it when she applied, her sole focus as she mailed the application her desire to attend medical school. It wasn't until she received an envelope from the college all the way in Philadelphia... Philadelphia... And in that moment, Andrew's face changed to one of worried realization when he reached the same conclusion.

"You should open it."

"I'm too nervous. What if I don't get accepted?"

"You just told me you're worried about the opposite."

"But I still don't want to be rejected!" She held up the letter between them. "You do it."

"Are you sure? You don't want Mic–"

"Andrew!"

He sighed and took the letter, carefully ripping open the envelope. It didn't take long for a huge smile to overtake his face.

"You got in."

"I did?"

Andrew had barely nodded a yes before Colleen screamed and jumped into his arms, momentarily forgetting any worry about faraway cities. She was exactly where she wanted to be, happy and held close in Andrew's arms.

"Congratulations, Colleen. And well deserved," he whispered into her ear, giving her a squeeze yet not letting her go. "But the letter says you need to be there for matriculation in three weeks."

"What?" Colleen squirmed just enough out of his tight hold to stand on the ground and take back her letter. "Three?!"

"You lost a few days waiting to open it."

"Three weeks?!" She exclaimed again, holding the paper in both hands and beginning to pace. "I should have applied to the other schools."

"I don't believe that would have helped the situation," Andrew calmly responded trying to catch her under his arm. "They all start around the same time of year."

"But maybe one of them starts a week later," Colleen complained. "Like the school in Boston. I could live with Grandma, but..."

"But what?" He asked, finally tucking her into his side.

"It doesn't matter where I apply, really, because you wouldn't be there."

"Colleen–"

"We should go." She wiped away a lone tear. "Ma's probably wonderin' where we are and I told her I would help with dinner. Can you hold this?" Strangely, the paper suddenly felt too heavy.

"Colleen–"

"Please? I want to be just Andrew and Colleen for one more night."

Without even looking at him as she folded up the letter and held it out, Colleen just knew Andrew was giving her that stare he always gave her as his brain fought between contradicting and placating her. Placating won out after briefly hesitating and so he silently took the letter, placing it in a pocket inside his gray jacket.

She already felt better, almost giddy now. "Andrew?"

"Hmm?"

Colleen hooked her arm through his as they began the walk back to where he parked his buggy near the clinic. "Do you think we can stay out a little longer? I'm not ready to go home just yet," she asked.

"Are you sure? I thought you wanted to help Michaela with dinner."

"I'm sure."

He didn't say anything else until he took her hand to help her into the buggy. "Where to, m'lady?"

Colleen looked up at him not moving just yet. "Anywhere. Just the two of us. I feel like I've barely seen you."

"I sat with you for three hours yesterday on the train."

"But we weren't alone. You haven't kissed me yet!"

"Because there have been too many people around."

"Dr. Mike and Sully wouldn't care about that."

"We're not your parents, Colleen."

"Andrew, please!" She pouted, earning a promising kiss to the knuckles on the hand he held.

"Alright, up. But it's not my fault we're going to be late."

Colleen grinned, finally getting into the buggy.

He took her to a meadow, not the same one where they had their first picnic, but still perfect. Not another person in sight except for them. Colleen barely waited for the buggy to come to a stop before she hopped out and ran into the clearing, spinning in circles. "Andrew!" She called breathless through a smile. "Are there places like this in Philadelphia?"

"I don't think so," he called back. "We would probably have to leave the city to find it."

"We?" She asked, looking around and spotting him approaching from over her shoulder. Her heart fluttered at that word he used. We.

"Didn't you want me to kiss you?" He asked, turning her to face him, one hand gently holding her hip and the other coming up to cup her cheek.

Suddenly, she couldn't think about anything else but the thumb rubbing soothing circles on her hip and his mouth so close yet so far. This was new, their touches becoming less innocent as they grew more comfortable in exploring. She managed to toss her arms over his shoulders and rise up on her toes to get closer and then after an agonizing wait, their lips met in a passionate kiss.

They probably spent too long caught up in each other, but it was exactly what Colleen needed because it was one simple little word that spun in her mind so much so that by the time Andrew helped her back up into the buggy, her stomach somersaulted with both nerves and now excitement. We. Maybe she could have everything she wanted. Maybe Andrew could go with her to Philadelphia, except she could never ask that of him. She could only hope he meant that we and would figure it out faster than it took him to say that he loved her.

At the Sully homestead, Mike couldn't wait for Colleen any longer to start dinner. She shrugged it off with a smile, however, figuring she lost track of the time while out with Andrew as the two tended to do. Matthew and Brian were outside with Sully working on some minor wagon repairs while she cooked. All was quiet and content until the front door opened just as she was about to finish up preparing the last dish.

"What's this all about?" Mike asked, watching her three oldest children come into the house with far too little fanfare for the Cooper siblings minus Andrew and Sully.

Colleen shrugged, going to the sink to wash her hands. "I don't know. Sully asked Andrew to help finish the repairs."

Brian scooped Katie out of her chair. "You should have seen his face, Ma!"

"Brian!" Colleen playfully flicked water towards him before drying her hands on a towel. "It was a little funny," she giggled, tying on her apron.

Matthew sat on the floor with Brian to play with Katie. "I think Sully just wanted to talk with him."

"Alone," Brian added, waving Katie's bunny in her face. "He told us to go inside."

"I wonder why?" Mike asked no one in particular.

"I had to practically pry Colleen off his arm," Matthew added.

Mike pursed her lips, noting her daughter still carried a touch of unease that seemed to weigh her down earlier in the day. "Is everything alright? Have you received a response from the medical college?"

Colleen looked away. "No. Not yet. Do you need my help with anything?"

With most of the dinner preparations finished, there wasn't much left to do. "Well, there's not much left–"

"I'm sorry we were late, Ma," Colleen apologized.

"No, it's..." Mike smiled at her in reassurance, understanding how much she missed Andrew while at school, "It's fine. I haven't prepared the carrots yet."

Colleen grinned, practically skipping over to the bowl of carrots on the table just as Sully and Andrew came in the front door.

"Good evening, Michaela," Andrew greeted. "I apologize for bringing Colleen home late," he added, coming into the kitchen to stand by Colleen who had begun slicing the carrots into strips.

Mike noted that he seemed as ill at ease as Colleen did most of the day, though her daughter had brightened considerably since leaving the clinic. Both seemed to relax once he placed his hands on her shoulders. "Oh don't worry about it, Andrew," Mike told him. "But is everything alright?"

"Ma, everything is fine!" Colleen insisted, passing Andrew a knife.

Sully wrapped an arm around Mike then, kissing the corner of her mouth. "What are ya worryin' about now?"

"I don't know," she whispered, watching the younger couple laughing at Colleen's attempt to teach Andrew to slice a carrot.

"How can you perform surgery but not know how to cut vegetables?" Colleen teased him.

"It's not the same!" Andrew laughed, putting the knife down.

Colleen held up a whole carrot. "This is your patient."

"That's a carrot."

"Excellent observation, doctor. And now," she arranged more carrots on the table, "here are the arms and legs. What's your prognosis?"

"My prognosis is that a person doesn't have three legs and isn't a carrot!"

Mike chuckled motioning Sully to follow her to the bottom of the stairs so they could all have some privacy. "I don't think I've ever seen him come alive as much as he does when he is with Colleen. He reminds me of little Andrew with the missing front tooth."

"Bein' in love will do that."

"Speaking of Andrew, why did you keep him outside? He's the last person I would ask to repair a wagon."

"I'll tell ya later."

"Well now I must know, Sully! Did you need to discuss something with him?"

"It ain't important right now. Let's just enjoy dinner."

"If you're sure, but..." Mike slumped. "Did you get a sense from him that something's wrong?"

"Well yeah. I was wonderin' about that so thought I'd ask him."

"And?"

"We should talk about this later when we're not lookin' out for eavesdroppers," he whispered, looking around.

"But Sully!" Mike hugged herself. "Colleen has been quiet about her medical school application. She should have heard back by now."

"Do ya think she didn't get accepted?"

"Perhaps. Colleen would be reluctant to discuss a negative result, unless..."

"Unless what?"

"She might tell Andrew. Tell me, please, did he hint at anything?"

Sully's eyes searched hers, his mouth opening as if to say something, but a commotion in the kitchen interrupted whatever he had to say.

"Doesn't look like much cookin', Colleen!" Matthew yelled.

"Why are you spyin' on me?" She yelled back.

"Maybe if you weren't kissin' out in the open..."

"We were not!"

Mike jumped in then. "Children!"

Dinner thankfully passed uneventfully without further incident, just like any other dinner, until they had all risen from the table when finished. The boys and Sully went to clear the table and rather than help as she normally would, Andrew had asked Colleen to go outside with him. Something was wrong. Mike gathered Katie in her arms and hurried to the window.

"Michaela," Sully warned, "give 'em some privacy."

Mike's eyes widened. "He's holding her hands!"

"What?!" Sully exclaimed, joining her at the window along with Brian and Matthew. "I didn't think he would do it now!"

"Do what?" Mike questioned just as Colleen squealed a "Yes!" and jumped into Andrew's arms.

Mike's heart pounded as they all hurried from the window with Sully suspiciously examining a flower vase on the table just in time for the other two to burst through the front door all smiles.

"Everyone!" Colleen beamed, clinging to Andrew's hands. "We have great news!" At his nod, she continued. "We're gonna get married!"

The boys and Sully rushed to congratulate them, but Mike remained standing back observing. She shifted Katie on her hip, not yet feeling the same excitement everyone else felt. That feeling soon changed to dread as Colleen pulled an envelope from Andrew's inner jacket pocket. Mike feared the worst, that they were using a medical school rejection as an excuse to get married, but Colleen was still smiling.

"I got this from the Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania a few days ago," Colleen explained still smiling. "But I waited until today to open it."

"What's it say?" Brian asked.

"I've been accepted!"

"Congratulations, Colleen," Matthew hugged her. "I guess we'll be callin' you Dr. Cook soon, huh."

"Thanks," she told him, her smile slipping. "But I have to be there in three weeks."

"That doesn't give us much time," Mike finally reacted.

Colleen sadly shook her head, but her happiness recovered once Andrew wrapped her back in his arms. The family was so caught up in chatting with each other that they didn't even react when she passed Katie to Brian so she could slip outside. The porch needed sweeping and she needed fresh air.

"Michaela, what is it?" Sully asked, joining her at the railing outside. "Everybody's celebratin'." Apparently, someone noticed. "Brian wants ta know why ya left." Make that two someones.

It was a beautiful evening with the sky still clinging to hues of orange as the sun set lower and lower. The beauty did nothing to calm the sourness afflicting her heart at her daughter's news.

"I don't... I don't know, Sully," Mike sighed, her eyes falling on Andrew's buggy parked outside. A common sight whenever Colleen came home. "I can't help thinking this is all happening so fast. I worry."

Sully leaned his elbow on the railing. "'Bout what? It was bound to happen sooner or later."

"I was hoping for later."

"I can't think of a better husband for Colleen. Andrew said he's gonna open his own practice."

"He's going to spoil her."

"It's a good thing Colleen likes gettin' spoiled."

"It's all so much." Mike shook her head in disbelief. "Medical school is difficult enough, but a new city along with a new marriage?"

"What's this really about, Michaela? You're not hidin' out here pretendin' ta sweep because Andrew's gonna spoil her."

"Can we discuss it later? You know how I worry for her and you're right, I'm hiding out here."

"Then let's get back in there. Everything is fine. You'll see."

But it wasn't fine, at least for Mike. She couldn't feel the same joy her family felt though she tried to put on a happy front. After Colleen went outside with Andrew to say goodnight, Sully took Katie upstairs to get ready for bed while the boys did the same. Mike had come close to begging everyone to leave a few dishes for her to finish washing alone so she was slowly scrubbing an already clean plate wondering what could be taking Colleen so long when she finally came back inside.

"Ma, do you think I'll need new clothes?" Colleen asked, standing next to Mike at the sink and picking up a towel.

Mike shook her head to clear her mind, taken aback by the question. "Clothes?" She repeated, needing clarification.

"I'm sure all the women dress differently in Philadelphia and seeing as I'll be married..." she trailed off, excitement evident in her voice. "Andrew said he can get me anything I'll need when we get there."

"About that, Colleen." Mike passed her the plate she rinsed and dried her hands. This was her chance and she didn't want any breakable distractions.

"What is it, Ma?" Colleen asked, taking the plate to dry.

"I just feel this is all rather sudden," Mike told her, trying to ease into the subject.

"Well that's my fault. I got that letter a few days ago now."

"No, no. Not that part."

"What part then, Ma?"

"The wedding part."

Colleen finally put the plate down. "Really? Because I feel as if I've been waiting forever to marry him."

"You've only known each other two years and been together for even less."

"You only knew Sully a couple of years when he asked you to marry him."

"Yes, but... The wedding followed months later. You and Andrew have mere days!"

"You're not happy about me marryin' him, are you," Colleen dejectedly stated, her posture slumping with each word.

"Colleen, my only concern about you marrying Andrew is that it's not done out of fear of being alone in Philadelphia. That wouldn't be fair to Andrew or you."

"How could you think that?!" Colleen exclaimed, the bright dreamy light in her eyes dimmed with anger. "I love Andrew and he loves me!"

"Then why don't you wait until you finish medical school to get married?" Mike asked, desperate to get her point across that this was a mistake. "If you truly love each other now, you'll still love each other then."

"This is not going to effect my schooling, I'm still gonna be a doctor."

"But... what if... I mean, what if you became pregnant?" Mike stated her greatest fear. "Starting a family, that's a part of marriage."

"Well we'll just wait for that." Colleen defiantly crossed her arms.

"That may sound like a reasonable plan now, Colleen but it will be difficult. With the pressures of school work a pregnancy would give you no choice–"

"I can't believe you're doing this!"

"All I want is what's best for you!"

"You only want what you want! We should've just eloped." Colleen pushed away from the sink, her footsteps pounding quickly up the stairs followed by the slam of her bedroom door.

"That went well," Mike said to the ceiling.

"Sure did," Sully commented, his sudden presence making Mike scream.

"You scared me," she said, clutching her chest. "How much did you hear?"

"All of it. We all did. She's pretty upset. Should probably have a word with her about raisin' her voice at her ma."

"Sully, I... She's not ready for this."

Sully turned her by the shoulders to face him. "She's not ready or you're not ready?"

The next morning after a rather sleepless night ruminating over the argument and Sully's words, Mike turned from her place where she was cooking eggs on the stove at the sound of Colleen bounding down the stairs, pulling her shawl around her shoulders in her rush to the front door.

"Colleen?" She called out, setting down her spoon when there was no answer. "Colleen, where are you headed this early? I'm making breakfast."

"Andrew is picking me up and then we're getting breakfast at Grace's," she answered defensively, crossing her arms. "I didn't get a chance to tell you last night."

"About that–"

"And I'll probably be at the hotel and running some errands in town most of the day seeing as my mother won't help with wedding plans."

"Colleen, I never said I wouldn't help, but can't it wait until we talk about this? Today you're supposed to help me at the clinic and watching Katie!"

Colleen's eyes flicked passed Mike's shoulder to where Katie sat oblivious in her high chair at the table when someone knocked on the door.

"Ah!" Her face lit up. "That would be Andrew." She pulled open the door, quickly grabbing his hand as she hurried out. "I'm ready!"

Andrew, having no clue what transpired at the homestead after he left the previous night, tried leaning to look past Colleen into the house.

"Good morning, Mic– Colleen!" His stumble from Colleen's tug stopped him mid greeting and he pulled her back by both arms, spinning her around. "What's wrong?"

Mike recognized what he was doing, the doctor in him coming out with his eyes dancing over every inch of her looking for signs of injury.

"We may have had a minor disagreement," Mike tried diplomatically explaining, coming to the open door.

"A disagreement?" Colleen wasn't having it. "Ma, you told me we shouldn't get married!"

"Michaela?" His voice sounded hurt.

"I only suggested that you both wait for Colleen to finish medical school," Mike defended. "Two years isn't all that long."

Colleen groaned, clearly still not in agreement on that point, and stomped down the stairs to the buggy at the bottom.

It seemed all Andrew could do was stand there dumfounded, caught looking between the both of them. "I should–" He pointed to the buggy, where Colleen wasn't waiting for him to help her up. "Colleen, let me help you!" He called out to her, though she ignored him, and his shoulders slumped with a sigh watching her sit on the bench. "I've never seen her like this."

"Just wait until she's mad at you."

The statement drew a chuckle from him. "Does this happen often?"

Michaela simply raised an eyebrow in response.

He huffed out an amused breath. "Right."

Mike did not find much at all amusing about this, but Andrew was obviously a man utterly besotted. The young doctor had always tried to keep the peace, never wanting to contribute to a conflict, with the exception of Colleen. It had been slow at first, one of the many signs Mike missed very early on that he had feelings for her daughter, so much so that Mike had convinced herself that he would have shifted his position on certain matters had Colleen been home rather than in Denver. Now, it was undeniable. Andrew would always side with Colleen just as she had begun to do with him. That fact currently unfolded right before Mike's eyes. His internal battle to not offend the woman who had become a mentor was losing to not wanting to further upset the woman he loved.

"Andrew!" Colleen impatiently snapped from the buggy.

"Michaela," he said with a polite nod, starting down the stairs.

"Andrew, wait!" Mike's words stopped him partway down. "I'm sorry about all this. I'll stop by sometime today so we can talk, though I'm sure Colleen will tell you all about it."

"Michaela," he breathed out, her name weighted with exhaustion and his face crestfallen. "I believe you should be speaking with someone else."

"She won't talk to me. I tried last night, but her bedroom was dark and she didn't answer when I called. I had hoped to try again this morning but as you can see," she gestured towards the buggy, "she ran out the door."

"Let me talk to her and if she's amenable, I'll bring her by the clinic later."

"Thank you, Andrew."

With another nod, he turned back around and down the rest of the stairs.

Mike's eyes drifted over to her eldest daughter who still sat stiffly on the bench, her gaze intent on her clasped hands in her lap completing the picture of displeasure. Once Andrew sat next to her and took the reins, Colleen shifted, wrapping both her arms around one of his.

After the buggy left, Mike shut the door with a soft click, turning and pressing her back against it when she noticed Matthew standing right in front of her.

"That was Andrew," she explained, "taking Colleen away."

"Dr. Mike, don't be like that," Matthew said following her into the kitchen.

An awful stench came from the stove where the eggs had been left in a hot pan. "Eggs are burnt."

"Look, I would feel a whole lot better if my little sister didn't halfta go to Philadelphia alone."

Mike tossed the messy pan into the sink. It looked like they would be forgoing eggs this morning, unless she wanted to go to Grace's for breakfast, which felt unusually unappealing due to her current conflict with Colleen. Not that there would be time for that anyway.

"That's no reason to get married, Matthew," she countered, bringing a basket of biscuits to the table. "Help me set the table."

"Yeah, but," he started, making no move to get the plates, "look what happened to me 'n' Ingrid. I don't want that for Colleen."

"No one's going to die, Matthew."

"After all this family, heck this entire town, has been through?" Matthew shook his head. "Look, all I'm sayin' is if two people love each other and want to get married, nothin' should stop 'em. She loves him, Ma. A lot can happen in two years.

"I know," Mike softened at his words. "You're right about that, but–"

"There is no but."

He was... he was still right. And now Mike felt fearful for a different reason. "What if I upset her so much that they run off and elope? There's probably a 9am train today. Maybe that's why–"

"No, Colleen wouldn't do that."

"She suggested it last night!"

"Have you met Colleen? She wouldn't leave without her stuff. Besides, Andrew is more reasonable than that."

"I don't know about that. Sometimes he loses all reason when it comes to your sister. Or..." She recalled the times he reversed course due to Colleen's influence. "It could go either way, I suppose."

"Ma?" Brian came in the kitchen dressed for the school day. "Did Colleen leave?"

"I'm afraid so," she answered.

"Is she comin' back?"

Matthew tucked his brother into his side. "Of course she is, Brian."

"She won't have the weddin' without us, will she?"

"Brian!" Mike gasped as she set three plates on the table. Sully had already left before Colleen. "Why would you think that?"

"Well, I heard you and Matthew talkin'..."

"Don't listen to Dr. Mike," Matthew told him. "There's gonna be a weddin'. You'll see."

"Good," Brian said with a smile, sitting in his chair. "I was gonna stop by the general store after school to pick out a weddin' present."

Mike felt herself smiling genuinely at Brian's love for his sister. "I think that sounds wonderful, Brian."

They rode quietly after leaving the homestead, Colleen content enough to sit with him. Her mood had already improved with Andrew right next to her and thoughts of wedding plans.

"Do you want to tell me what happened?" He finally asked.

"No, not really."

"Colleen–"

"I think we should just leave and get married in Philadelphia."

"Darling, you don't want that, do you?" When Andrew saw her stiffen with resolve, he pulled on the reins to stop the buggy. "Colleen, what happened?"

"We had a fight with yelling and everything after you left," she paused, not fond of telling him Dr. Mike's accusation. "Ma thinks I only said yes because I don't want to be alone in Philadelphia. When I told her that was ridiculous– because it's ridiculous, isn't it?" At his nod, she continued, "She told me she's afraid I won't finish school."

"Why would Michaela consider that a possibility?"

"She said I could become pregnant, but that won't happen."

"Well–"

"Andrew! It won't."

"It could. I hadn't considered that," he said, looking thoughtful. "She makes a good point."

"You're agreeing with her?!"

"Colleen, I did not say that."

"Maybe you should marry someone else. Someone you don't have to worry about gettin' pregnant. Remember when–"

"No, I was wrong then," he reminded her. "I asked you because I love you. And there are... ways... to avoid a pregnancy."

"Like what?"

"Well, postpone the wedding, for one."

"No!'

"Then we have two other options."

"What are they?"

"Colleen, are you absolutely sure?"

"Yes. I'm sure."

"I don't want to be a distraction. You've dreamt of becoming a doctor since before I met you."

"And then a doctor from Boston fell in the mud. I swept you off your feet," she teased.

"But I hadn't even seen you yet." A genuine smile bloomed on his face. Andrew told her once that he never had the right words to say, but he did. His words always made her happy like no one else's.

"You sensed the girl you were gonna marry one day was waitin' to rescue you and it knocked you off your feet."

"I think it was just the mud," he wrongly pointed out, laughing when Colleen shook her head no. "Yes it was!" He insisted, leaning in to kiss her. When he went to pull away, she brought a hand to his cheek to keep him right there and smiled victoriously as she felt his lips part slightly against hers just enough for their tongues to collide. A shiver went up her spine, not at all caused by the morning chill, but from the thrill that she would never have to go another day without kissing him.

"Good morning, Horace!" Mike greeted at the telegraph office counter. She needed to inform Mother about Colleen's medical school acceptance.

"Dr. Mike!" Horace exclaimed. "You just missed Colleen and Andrew."

"I did?"

"You and Sully must be so thrilled," he continued unperturbed. "A weddin' and Colleen goin' off to medical school all the way in Philadelphia? Sure is excitin'!"

"Yes," Mike faked a smile. "Um, may I ask if they were here to send a telegram to Boston?"

"You know I can't tell ya that, Dr. Mike," Horace leaned in, serious. "That's strictly confidential. We just got to chattin', you know, after I saw who they was wirin'. Now what can I do for you, Dr. Mike?"

"Oh, um..." Mike frowned. "I just wanted to check if I had any mail."

"Those medicines you ordered ain't come in yet," Horace informed her. "I would check back tomorrow."

"Of course. Thanks, Horace."

"Anytime, Dr. Mike."

Mike slowly walked back to the clinic. "What is your sister up to? Did she already wire your grandmother?" She asked Katie, adjusting her on her hip. "You're getting to be a big girl. One day you'll be as big as your sister!" She sighed, pushing open the clinic door. "But hopefully not testing me as much."

A knock sounded on the clinic door that afternoon while Mike had some downtime with no patients to see, so she was using her time to update their charts. Or, rather, stare at them because she found it difficult to concentrate while she and Colleen remained at odds with each other. She couldn't stop thinking about their argument... and what Sully had said... in addition to Matthew and Brian.

"Good afternoon, Michaela," Andrew announced as he removed his hat with one hand and tugged a reluctant Colleen in with the other.

"Oh!" Mike jumped up from her chair, stepping forward with her hands clasped in front of her. Suddenly, she felt nervous. Excited. Anxious.

Andrew smiled softly at her in understanding before looking down tenderly at Colleen. "Will you be alright here?"

"I s'pose," she sullenly answered.

He sighed, looking back to Mike. "I need to go find Preston. He hasn't been at the hotel all day."

"I would suggest the bank, but it never opened this morning," Mike advised, wondering like the rest of the town what was going on with the banker.

Andrew cringed. "That's the second day in a row."

"You'll find him," Colleen encouraged, looking up at him with an equally tender expression.

He pressed a kiss to her forehead before dipping his chin to Mike with a quick, "Michaela," and then he was out the door.

The silence was almost deafening after Andrew left and Colleen seemed uninterested in breaking it, so Mike took it upon herself to do so with a seemingly harmless topic.

"I hope it's nothing urgent. Preston has been rather out of sorts. He could be anywhere."

"As a matter of fact, it is. Andrew needs to tell him he's quittin' his job at the hotel clinic."

"Oh."

"Look, Ma...  I'm sorry I yelled," she paused. "Even though I was right."

It was difficult not to laugh at such a Colleen way to apologize and despite her best efforts, Mike felt her lips twitch. But she shook it off and instead squeezed her hand.

"I'm sorry too, sweetheart. And I'm going to miss you so much. Both of you."

"Ma?" Colleen's head snapped up, hope in her eyes.

"Come sit..." Mike pulled up the extra chair to the desk so she could sit next to Colleen. "Your father... and your brothers... helped me realize I wasn't being fair to you. I was focusing on my needs and happiness when I should have been focused on yours. It's just–" Mike paused to collect her jumble of thoughts, "I had been asking you about medical school but then instead you had a marriage announcement and I saw that you shared your news about school with Andrew first..."

"Ma, I didn't mean to–"

"I felt?" Mike sighed. She had to get this out. "Well... envious, I suppose, that you sought someone else out before your mother."

"Ma, I love Andrew and Andrew loves me. I thought you were happy about that."

"Of course I am! It's just that this all happened so fast so I convinced myself that you weren't ready, but you are ready. I'm obviously not. And above everything, above going to medical school, above becoming a doctor, I want you to make choices in your life that will make you happy. And I'll always love you and support you, no matter what those choices may be."

Colleen's eyes widened. "Does this mean?"

"The sooner you get married, the better."

"Oh, Ma!" Colleen exclaimed, diving forward to crush her mother in a hug.

Mike held her close, lightly stroking her hair and savoring this moment that would soon become a rarity. They were soon interrupted by a knock at the door, sitting back to see Dorothy come in.

"Michaela! Colleen!" She exclaimed. "I wasn't expectin' to see you here. Congratulations on your engagement." Dorothy sighed dreamily. "Such happy news."

"Thanks, Miss Jennings," Colleen replied turning to her. "I've also been accepted to medical school."

"Loren mentioned that. And somethin' about you leavin' for Philadelphia in two weeks?"

Colleen glanced at Mike, her cheeks tinged pink. "We have to leave soon so I can be there for matriculation."

We...

"The news sure has spread fast!" Mike stated, trying her best to sound positive when in reality, her mood was still fluctuating despite settling her differences with Colleen. First Horace knew and with Loren knowing, everyone going through his store would find out all while Mike was still adjusting to these changes.

"Sorry, Ma," Colleen apologized. "We went to the general store for my wedding ring before comin' here." She held out her left hand, examining her ring finger.

"Colleen!" Dorothy exclaimed taking her hand. "Don't tell me that handsome doctor of yours proposed without a ring!"

"He did!" Colleen laughed, taking her hand back. "He probably wanted to do it before he lost his nerve. You know how he gets. If he's not spontaneous, he'll take too long thinkin' about it."

"Well you simply must get an engagement ring!" Dorothy fretted. "A young engaged woman walkin' around with a bare finger. It ain't right."

"It's fine, Miss Jennings," Colleen assured her. "By the time I got one, I wouldn't have much time to wear it."

"Loren didn't have any?"

"Not that we liked or fit me. Besides, I'm more concerned about my dress," Colleen said sadly. "With all the packing we need to do, I won't have much time to make one."

"Which is why I'm here." Dorothy turned her attention to Mike. "Imagine my surprise when Loren informed me Colleen was plannin' on making her own dress because surely she would be wearin' her mother's." She pinned Mike with a hard stare leaving her speechless. "After all, it only makes sense! Alterin' a dress would be so much easier than startin' from scratch."

"Dorothy!" Mike finally interjected. "Of course Colleen is wearing my dress. That is, if she wants to."

"Really?" Colleen turned to her with a hopeful smile. "I didn't want to assume."

"Of course, sweetheart. We'll try it on tomorrow."

Colleen's smile grew and as she stood, it was then that Mike noticed she held a stack of papers that looked to be dress patterns and magazines. "If it's alright, I'm gonna go check on Katie. We don't have much sister time left."

Her enthusiasm was contagious and Mike felt herself smiling too. "Go on."

"Bye, Miss Jennings," Colleen said, leaving the room much more happily than she entered it.

"Michaela." Dorothy was the only one who could convey her understanding with a stare. Not a judgemental one like Mother's, but one full of concern.

This time, Mike felt exposed. "Don't look at me like that."

"Michaela," she sighed, setting her basket on the desk and sitting on Colleen's recently vacated chair. "What's the matter?"

"We had a fight last night. Colleen and I," Mike confessed.

"So that's why she thought she had to make her own weddin' dress."

"I didn't mean for it to happen like this." Mike wrung her hands. "I never thought they would go ahead so quickly with this wedding after what happened last night without us being on the same page, but they did. I hurt her, Dorothy. I hurt both of them."

"Colleen looked fine just now. Did the two of you fix things?"

"I think so. I hope so. But I still can't help not feeling alright with everything that's happening."

Dorothy took her hand and squeezed. "You're scared of lettin' go."

"She's going to need someone else, Dorothy."

"Oh, Michaela! You and Colleen have somethin' special. You have nothin' to worry about."

"I don't want you to stop being my mother."

"I keep reminding myself all day, but–"

"But you can't help worryin'."

"When I took her and her brothers in... after Charlotte died? She told me she wanted to be a doctor like me and I guess, well..." Mike trailed off, shaking her head at how naive she was. "I had wrongly assumed she would take the exact same path, but whereas I had my father Colleen would have the support of another woman."

"Michaela, look at me." Once Mike looked at her, Dorothy continued. "Colleen has the support of the whole town. Now that's what I call progress. She wouldn't have gotten where she is today without you."

Tears flooded her eyes as Mike felt herself smiling. "Thank you, Dorothy."

"Now, speaking of the whole town, we got a weddin' to plan."

Colleen's wedding to Andrew was the happiest day of her life. Happier than any previous day of her life. She couldn't stop smiling. It carried over to right now at the train station, the train ready to go behind her as she clung to her mother. Colleen didn't want to go, but she also couldn't wait to start her life in Philadelphia with Andrew. Two years... It would be two years until she could come home, everyone wordlessly acknowledging that visits would be difficult to schedule so it would be best not to leave with false hopes of seeing each other soon. Besides, Boston was not far at all! Grandma wrote that she was going to throw them a wedding reception during her first break and Aunt Rebecca wired that she would meet them in Philadelphia to help them settle in. But first, she had to board that train.

"Colleen..." Andrew rubbed her back, far more forcefully than usual, in an attempt to coax her away from Dr. Mike.

They finally separated and despite the tears in her eyes, Colleen still smiled so big she felt her face would split in two. It wasn't at all like the last time she left for school in Denver and she felt her heart break the further and further away she got from Colorado Springs. She didn't know it at the time that she had even been sad to leave Andrew, not recognizing that thinking of him as she fell asleep in her bed at the boarding house meant she had feelings for him. She didn't have to do that ever again. He sat down next to her, his arm anchoring her to her future as the train started to pull away. This time, she waved to Colorado Springs from the window with a smile.