Running through the tussocks the two girls danced around in circles, the younger one with a doll in her hand. They were twirling round and round till they fell over in a heap next to each other, exhausted, but ready to get up and do it all over again. It was spring, the girl's favorite time of year, when days were starting to get longer, and warmer.

'Girls, it's time to come in now' the youngest girl's mum called out.

The girls ran down the hill to the well, and the youngest was hesitant about placing the doll into the bucket.

'C'mon Tess, Annabel's gonna be fine down there. And no one will find her'

'And then we won't leave'.

'And we'll still be together'.

'Okay Claire'

Tess drove the car up to the front door, jumped out and called out

'Where are my girls?'

Two young girls, ran out of the door and flew into their mother's arms.

'I've missed you so much'

'We missed you too Mummy', the girls replied.

'Don't go away again please, we don't like grandma liz looking after us' The oldest said, with the younger nodding in agreement.

'What happened to your tummy mummy?' the youngest asked.

'Do you two want to meet someone special?' Tess replied as Nick pulled a car seat out of the car and walked over to the girls.

'Are they gonna cry a lot like Brianna did, Mum?' the oldest asked

'I hope not' Tess replied 'Charlotte and Brianna meet your little brother. His name's Jack, and you too have to take special care of him'

'We will Mummy', Charlotte said.

'Me too' Brianna said, carrying on her habit of agreeing with everything that Charlotte said.

'Welcome home Jack. Does he have other names Mummy?' Charlotte asked

'He's Jack Harry Ryan'

'Not McLeod' Charlotte asked

'What do you think Nick? Jack Harry McLeod Ryan?' Tess asked her husband

'I think it goes perfectly' Nick replied

'Do I have McLeod Mummy?' Brianna wanted to know

'No baby girl, but you have another special name don't you?

'You got my other mummy's name Bria, remember the angel?' Charlotte told her

'Yeah, the angel' Brianna smiled as she thought she must be special to be named after an angel.

'C'mon Charlotte Prudence and Brianna Claire, lets so inside.'

Tess grabbed a hand of each of the girl's and walked inside, leaving Nick to carry Jack in. She was glad that they were accepting of Jack. Charlotte had trouble adjusting when Brianna first came home, but she grew to love her like a sister, and when Brianna was two, and started calling Tess mummy, she asked Tess why she couldn't call her that. Tess explained to the confused five year old that she was Brianna's mummy, and she was Charlotte's aunty.

'What's the difference between mummy and aunty?' Charlotte had asked

'Well, mummy means that Brianna grew in my stomach, and I'll look after her as she grows up, and aunty means that you grew in my sister's stomach.'

'But you look after me, so shouldn't I call you mum?'

'But you didn't grow in my stomach Bom'

'Whose stomach did I grow in?'

'Your mummy's darling. She loved you a lot. But you know that she's not here anymore'.

'Where'd she go?'

'Sweetie, remember the story about the angels? How the angels loved her so much that they couldn't live without her and they wanted her to be an angel too? They came and took her to heaven, and we can go and talk to her whenever we want'.

'So I don't have a mummy anymore'

'Yes you do Bom, she's just not here anymore'

'So who's gonna look after me as I grow up?'

'I will, and your Uncle Nick, and Uncle Alex'.

'I wanna call you Mummy'

Tess paused before answering 'If you want to Bom, you can. Just remember that you have two Mummy's'.

'So do I call you Mummy 2, or just Mummy?'

'How about just Mummy'

'Okay Mummy'

Tess smiled remembering that day as she sat on the couch and watched Charlotte and Brianna play with each other. They reminded her of herself and Claire as little girls. She was glad that Charlotte was so happy, and the day she had decided to call Tess Mum was one of the happiest and saddest. Tess still hadn't formally adopted Charlotte, even though she was her legal guardian, as there had been no contact with her father in seven years, not since he had turned up drunk to Bom's first birthday party.

'Mummy?'

'Yes Brianna'

'Can me and Charlotte go and look at Jack?'

'Charlotte and I sweetie, remember?'

'That's right, sorry Mummy. Can Charlotte and I go and look at Jack?'

'Course you can. Just remember not to make too much noise okay. We don't want him to cry do we?'

'No, we don't' Charlotte replied in a defiant voice, looking at Brianna as she said it. 'C'mon Brianna' she said as she grabbed Brianna's hand and pulled her up. 'We can do it together'

'Just like everything we do'

'Well we're gonna be together forever anyway aren't we?'

'Yip. Don't ever leave me Carlette'

'Never'

Tess smiled at her daughter's pronunciation of Charlotte's name as they ran out the door and up the stairs, up to see their new brother. Two girls and a boy, Tess's life had finally fallen into place. Even though Charlotte wasn't biologically hers, she was in every other sense, even Brianna thought that Charlotte was her actual sister, despite being told many times that this was not the case. Here and now, they were happy, which was all that mattered to Tess.