A/N: I'm very much a fan of Victoria, not a fan of Tom (the man they seemed to make into more of a god with each mention of him...imo), and a fan of Jarrod. Oh, and I always thought Eugene was older than Audra, though I know most say he's the youngest. Well...he isn't in my little world of TBV.

"Sis."

Victoria sighed as she turned to look at her sister. "You're never going to stop calling me that, are you?"

"Why should I?"

"Because I'm too old for such a nickname."

Smiling tenderly at her sister, Ruth reached out to caress her arm. "You're my baby sister, it doesn't matter how old you grow to be, you'll always be Sis."

Feeling her eyes water, Victoria turned into her sister's embrace. "I'm so glad you're still with me. I wish we lived closer."

"Why the tears?"

"He has a son…" she whispered her answer, knowing her sister would know who the he she spoke of was.

Ruth held her sister a bit tighter as she felt the younger woman fall apart. Anger surged inside her and she silently cursed her deceased brother-in-law. "How did you learn of the boy?"

"Hardly a boy. He's only four years younger than Nick. And I learned of him when he showed up at the ranch." Victoria answered as she pulled back and wiped at her eyes with the handkerchief she'd pulled from her pocket. "Even if I hadn't heard the angry words he and the boys were saying, seeing him…" she closed her eyes. "He looks just like Tom. So now, instead of five children of Tom Barkley, there are six."

"But something more than this young man is bothering you." Studying her sister, Ruth thought she knew what it was, but waited for Victoria to say it for herself.

Tears clouding her eyes again, Victoria looked up at her sister. "He's perfect and the children know of him. He's not a secret being kept in the dark. At least not anymore."

"While your baby is hidden away, no one but the two of us with any knowledge of her." Ruth finished. "Sis, did you know that Tom had been unfaithful?"

"I knew shortly after it happened. Why do you think there is such a gap between Nick and Eugene?"

"That never occurred to me. I'm so very sorry, Sis." Tugging her sister along, Ruth settled on the settee and waited for Victoria to join her. "Why don't you tell the children of Olivia?"

"And damage the image of their father they have even more than the arrival of their illegitimate brother? They would never understand their father's sending her away instead of paying for her care at home."

Ruth started to say something but a knock at the door stopped her. "I wonder who that is?"

"Were you expecting anyone?"

"No." Ruth shook her head, her eyes widening in shock when she looked toward the entry to the living room only to find her oldest nephew's blue eyes staring back at her. "Jarrod."

"Hello, Aunt Ruth."

Victoria stood and turned to face her son. "Jarrod? What are you doing here?"

Jarrod studied his mother. He could see that she'd been crying and his heart hurt for her. He'd been angry, was still angry, at his father when he'd learned of Heath, but he knew that his mother had been hurt deeply. He remembered when she'd learned of his father's infidelity, even though he'd been just a boy of eight. He'd heard her crying when she thought no one was around and he'd wanted to go to her and wrap his arms around her neck and comfort her like she did him when he was upset. He hadn't gone to her, though, because he knew his mother…knew that she wouldn't want him seeing her like that.

"Jarrod?"

Shaking himself from his wanderings into the past, Jarrod walked to where his mother stood and pulled her into his arms. "I'm sorry, Mother."

Wrapping her arms around her son, Victoria patted his back. "You don't have to apologize again, Son. Surely that isn't why you came all the way to Colorado."

"No. I didn't come all this way to apologize. I came to make sure you were okay. I had a feeling you needed me."

Leaning back, Victoria cupped Jarrod's cheek. "Darling, Ruth has been taking very good care of me…just as she always does."

"He just loves his mother and was worried for her." Ruth smiled at the young man. "You've always been protective of her, even as a little boy."

Jarrod held his mother's gaze. "She's my mother."

"And a very lucky woman." Victoria smiled at him. "How long are you staying? I have somewhere to be this afternoon."

"Take him with you, Victoria."

Turning to stare at her sister, Victoria opened her mouth to say something but frowned instead, not finding the words she needed.

"He came all this way because he felt his mother needed him. I dare say, he knew part of the truth long before the proof showed up on your doorstep. Now it's time he learned this truth."

Looking back at her son, Victoria studied him a moment. "Did you know of your father's infidelity?"

"I did. I heard you crying several times, and then one night I heard you and father talking…well…arguing really. I was only eight, so I didn't understand until I was older and got to thinking about it. All I understood at eight was that Father had made you cry."

"Why did you never say anything?"

"I know you, Mother. It would have embarrassed you that I knew." Squeezing her hand, he smiled. "Now, tell me what Aunt Ruth was talking about. What truth? Where are you going?"

"Oh Son." Victoria sighed as she turned away from him. "I'm afraid you'll resent your father…and me."

"Mother?"

Ruth moved to Victoria and gently squeezed her arm. "I'm going to go tend to a few things. Tell him, Sis. He loves you."

Victoria watched her sister as she left the room then sighed and moved to the windows. "How much do you remember from the year Audra was five?"

Jarrod frowned. "I was away at Berkley and then the war started."

"What do you remember from the time when you were home? The months before you went to war, think back." Victoria knew Jarrod liked to forget those years, but she needed him to remember.

Jarrod thought a moment, trying to figure out what his mother wanted him to remember and then he recalled something he'd long forgotten. "You were sick, but you kept telling me you were fine."

"Yes, because I wasn't sick."

"I don't understand, Mother."

"There was another baby, Jarrod."

"After Audra?"

Victoria's voice cracked as she answered, "Yes. Another little girl. She was perfect, at least that's what we thought."

Walking over to stand behind his mother, Jarrod rested his hands on her shoulders. "What happened?"

"She didn't roll over when she should have, but I thought nothing of it. None of you children did anything at the same time as the others. You did everything early and nearly perfect the first time. Nick took his time, wouldn't quite get it and then yell and try again until he got it. Audra and Eugene were so close they practically did things together."

Jarrod chuckled at his mother's description of Nick then sobered. "What was her name?"

"Her name is Olivia."

"Is?"

"She's the secret your aunt wants me to tell you about. You see, Olivia didn't just not roll over when she should have. She wasn't loose like a baby usually is. You know how they are. They're just a bit floppy, for lack of a better word. She didn't sit up by herself when she should have. She didn't babble or say small little words when she should have. She had trouble eating."

"What happened? Why don't we know of her?"

"Audra and Eugene were so young, it's doubtful they remember. Nick, well…I don't know if he remembers or not. Your father kept him busy on the ranch and he was away from the house a lot while she was there. And then I was gone with her to doctors, trying desperately to find out what was wrong with my baby. Dr. Merar told me that he thought he'd found something in a medical journal but he didn't want to tell me because he wasn't sure. He finally found a doctor here in Denver that was able to tell me a name for what was causing my baby not to do the things she should be doing. It's called Little's Disease. You see, her brain, according to the doctor, is damaged and the part that's damaged controls her muscles. That's why she wasn't doing the things she should have been when she should have…why she always seemed to be so tense."

"So all these years, the trips you've taken to visit Aunt Ruth have really been to see our sister. Mother, why hide her away?"

"I didn't want to." Victoria answered in a voice that cracked with her tears. "Your father thought it best to leave her here in the care of the doctor that had diagnosed her. There's a sanitorium here that she lives in."

Anger flared in Jarrod as he imagined the anguish his mother had been in when she'd had to leave her baby in the care of strangers. "So that's why Aunt Ruth suddenly moved to Colorado."

Victoria nodded. "I didn't want to leave my baby. I begged your father, but he wouldn't be persuaded. He kept insisting we couldn't give her the care she needed and wouldn't hear of hiring a trained nurse to live with us. He didn't want to disrupt the other children's lives. He pointed out that I still had two very young children at home that needed all of my attention, something I wouldn't be able to give them if I was taking care of a child that…" she shook her head. "I've hated myself from the moment I walked out of her room with her screaming, knowing that it was me she was screaming for even though she couldn't say my name."

Turning his mother to face him, Jarrod pulled her into his arms. "My god, Mother. All these years. I'm so sorry." Pushing her back, he stared down at her. "Can I meet her? Does she know of us?"

"She knows about all of you. Any time we've had a photograph of the family taken, I've made sure to bring her one for her room. You can go with me this afternoon if you like."

"And what about the others? Will you tell them when we go home?"

"Maybe one day, but not now. They're all still upset over Heath's arrival. I…"

"You can't do more damage to their image of Father." Jarrod supplied the rest.

"No, I can't."

Wiping at the tears on her cheeks with his thumbs, Jarrod pressed a kiss to her forehead. "You're the strongest woman I know and I love you."

Reaching up, she patted his hand. "I'm a lucky woman to have a son that's so forgiving."

"There is nothing to forgive, Lovely Lady. You weren't given much choice."