Chapter 1

Brady hadn't been planned.

No one was even sure exactly when or where he'd been conceived; Briana hadn't had any indication for awhile that she'd even been pregnant, being she'd had no symptoms at all like she had with the twins.

Briana had just figured she'd gained a little weight eating on the run with her busy schedule at the salon and having her hands full at home raising Bella and Brett, and Brian certainly wasn't complaining about her thickening figure either.

The twins had just passed their second birthday when Dr. Edwards had told Briana during a routine checkup she had been pregnant. She had been shocked, figuring her chances of conceiving again since going off the fertility drugs were virtually low. After all, she hadn't gotten pregnant before taking them, had she?

Brian had nearly choked on his dinner when she'd delivered the news that night, but managed to regain his composure. They hadn't planned on any more kids; home life was insane enough with twin toddlers, but there it was.

With the coming birth of a third child, it meant another move, and they had found a home not far from their old address with three bedrooms. The view had been more spectacular and they had gotten a great deal on the place from the previous owners.

With all the improvements made on their old house, it had sold for more than what they had paid for it. Things seemed to be moving along smoothly….at least so far.

Briana's pregnancy had gone without any problems, but at thirty weeks along, she had become ill with a virus and the baby was delivered prematurely.

Brady had been very small and after the first few tense days, it looked as if he would make it. Brady stood in the hospital until his weight reached a little over six pounds before he could go home.

Even though he also had Brian's features and eyes like his older siblings, Brady's hair was dark like his mother's while Brett and Bella were as blond as their father. Still, he had been an adorable baby, even as tiny and fragile-appearing as he was as a newborn.

While the twins had been quick to turn over, sit up, crawl and eventually walk (though Bella advanced at a much quicker rate, but most figured she did because of being a girl), Brady seemed to lag behind, not walking until he was nearly eighteen months was more of a challenge to toilet train that Brett had ever been.

Briana hadn't been very concerned, though; she figured Brady was a little slower on the uptake on most things because he had been a preemie, and he had been such an affectionate, cheerful baby that was seldom fussy, seemed to have a permanent smile, and loved being held.

But one thing did bother her; Briana discovered around the time Brady was six months old that unless she was face to face with her youngest child, he didn't respond to her voice. It was almost as if she, the twins, or even Brian weren't in the room at all.

Though a neurologist did confirm Brady did have some mild brain damage that most likely stemmed from his premature birth–and subsequently played a role in his slow development– it had been the kids' pediatrician that had indicated that he may have had hearing loss and referred Briana to an audiologist.

Dr. Moss confirmed the pediatrician's initial guess. Brady had only thirty percent of his hearing. The boy would need to be fitted with hearing aids in addition to being taught American Sign Language, lip reading, and learning to speak as he got older.

When Brady had slurred "Mama" at nineteen months, Briana had been thrilled. The money spent on teachers and therapists for their youngest child seemed to be paying off after all.

When Brady reached school age, his therapist suggested a highly reputable private school for children with hearing impairments and other disabilities, but Brian would have none of it. He wanted his youngest child to live as much of a normal life as possible, and that meant being exposed to other normal, hearing children, not just Brett and Bella.

As it would turn out later in life, it was a decision Brian wouldn't regret.

Bella was especially protective of her baby brother; she had loved Brady from the moment he had been brought home from the hospital, and she didn't hesistate to get into battle with anyone who dared to tease Brady or try to take advantage of him. Bella was petite, but she was a scrapper, and it only took once to get her point across.

Bella also found Brady a good sport who would laugh when she would dress him up for 'tea parties' as well as some of their dad's old clothes that she had found. It had been Bella that taught him how to climb trees, how to arm wrestle, and–along with their mother–stress to Brady not to imitate the stuff they saw their Papa do on TV because "they could get hurt bad."

Brady followed his older siblings around like an eager puppy, and though Bella certainly didn't mind, it annoyed Brett most of the time, who either would whine at their parents to get Brady away from him or shoo off the smaller boy, unless Brett didn't have anyone else to play with that day or just was in the mood to torment Brady and their sister wasn't around.

Brett, did, however, did teach his little brother the fine art of burping, much to the chagrin of Briana and amusement of Brian and Bella.

The twins had also laughed out loud one afternoon when their parents were out and five year old Brady had discovered their mother's makeup drawer; emerging from the bathroom with his face every color of the rainbow, grinning.

Their baby sitter had been horrified at the sight when she had come to check on the commotion and then quickly ushered Brady into the bathtub for a good cleaning before Briana and Brian returned home.

That incident was only one of many times of mischief the three kids would get into, especially Brady, but no one seemed to mind much since he was an unexpected gift to the family in spite of his limitations. Those around him would make sure the years ahead of him would mostly be happy ones.