Their Happily Ever After

Chapter 1

It was a beautiful morning at the homestead. Michaela stretched and smiled as Sully crooned, "Mornin' beautiful! Time to wake up!" He bent down and softly brushed his lips across her forehead, causing goosebumps to appear on her skin, then sauntered out of the room and back downstairs. Michaela slowly opened her eyes. The bright September sunshine streamed into the room, lighting it up. The songbirds sang, but as Michaela listened, she found something even sweeter: the giggles of her girls. Michaela sighed. She hadn't felt this great in weeks, months even, but then again, she hadn't slept through the whole night in months either, as she had last night and the night before.

In the three months that followed Katie's kidnapping, she would wake up every night, crying and calling for her or Sully, which would, in turn, wake up her little sister. They would both only be consoled after being rocked and held the rest of the night. Sully and Michaela had spent many sleepless nights in their rocking chairs. Michaela hoped they had finally through that awful stage.

She sat up and stepped out of bed. As she went about her usual morning routine, the smell of bacon drifted up the stairs, and the sound of playful laughter reached her ears. She couldn't help but smile. She loved her kids, they were everything to her, but they were growing up so fast. She couldn't even believe it. It seemed like it was yesterday when she arrived in Colorado Springs and the children came to live with her, but now, the years had gone by and Matthew was 26, was married and even had a baby on the way. About six months after Colleen's wedding, Mabel, a young widow was passing through on the train. She had a young daughter, Anna Rose, about the same age as Katie. She was exhausted and famished, and that led to her collapsing at the train station boardwalk. Luckily, Matthew was there and caught her before she hit the ground. It was love at first sight. They were married shortly after. Now, they lived just a few miles from the homestead, and of course, Michaela and Sully were delighted to have one, almost two grandchildren close by.

Colleen was 22 and was living in Philadelphia with Andrew, getting her medical degree. She would graduate at the beginning of May. They had a four-month-old baby boy named Benjamin, and Michaela couldn't wait to finally hold him when Christmas-time came. Brian was now 17 and Dorothy had gotten him an apprenticing job working at a newspaper in Denver. He was ecstatic about the amazing opportunity he had. Katie was 5 now. She was already so grown up for her age. She was just barely adjusting back to daily life after being kidnapped. She looked exactly like Michaela, but with Sully's piercing blue eyes and curly blond hair. Also from her father, she inherited an incredible way with animals. Even at her young age, it seemed like animals would flock to her. She was quite shy and quiet until you really got to know her, but she was so kind and compassionate. Three years after Katie was born, Brooke Etta came along. When she was born, Sully was surprised to see that her features resembled his mother, Etta. Hence her middle name. Although her looks came from Sully's side of the family, her dark auburn hair and the personality that came with it, were from Michaela. Even at the young age of two, she was wild and talkative and so full of life and did not have one shy bone in her body. She was a little daredevil, and someone always had to keep an eye on her, or else she would get into all sorts of trouble. Michaela smiled as she thought about her family. She was blessed that they were so wonderful.

Michaela finished getting dressed and doing her hair and walked down the stairs. Sully was setting the table and the delicious aroma of breakfast filled her nose. The girls were playing with their dollies in the parlor. When they saw her, they broke away from their game and ran to her and wrapped their arms around her. "Mommy!", Katie yelled. Michaela reached down and wrapped each one in a special hug that only mothers could give. She picked up her sweet Brooke, grabbed Katie's petite hand and walked towards the table. "I sure love my girls!" Michaela said.

"Let's eat!" announced Sully. Michaela was starving! A few minutes into breakfast Sully said, "So I was a-thinkin', that today after your day at the clinic is over, that maybe we could have a picnic with Matthew and Mabel and Anna Rose. I know that Mabel would love to talk to you and well, you know Matthew needs some man time since he has a houseful of girls!"

"Does that mean I get to play with my best friend Rosie!" yelled Katie. Katie and Brooke were the only ones whom Anna Rose would allow to call her Rosie.

"Ya! Pway wif Wosie!" echoed Brooke. She loved to repeat anything her older sister said.

"It sure does, my girls!" answered Sully.

And so on that beautiful afternoon in September, the Sully families set off to a perfect meadow in which to have their picnic.

"This is the perfect place!" exclaimed Michaela as Sully pulled their wagon to a stop. Matthew pulled his wagon alongside them and set his brake. Sully jumped from the wagon and helped the girls down. Matthew did the same for Anna Rose and they were quickly off on one of their adventures; Katie and Anna Rose in the front and Brooke toddling as fast as she could behind them.

"Don't go too far!" A tired Mabel warned. She slowly stood to her feet and extended her arms down to Matthew so that he could help her down. Matthew carefully lifted her down and held onto her until she found her balance on the uneven ground. In the meantime, Sully had helped Michaela down and she was already spreading out their large picnic blanket. Mabel started waddling over to the blanket. Matthew quickly grabbed their picnic baskets and followed her. He set them down on the edge of the blanket and then assisted Mabel to settle on the ground. Michaela pulled food aplenty out of the wicker baskets and then called the girls in to eat.

When they had finished eating, Matthew and Sully decided to take a walk, and the girls went to pick wildflowers. Michaela and a very pregnant Mabel were the only ones remaining on the blanket.

"How have you been feeling since our last appointment?" the doctor in Michaela asked.

Mabel began to talk but then had to pause and take a calming breath. She wiped away a tear as it fell from the corner of her eye. "I am so ready to have this baby already! My emotions are all over the place and I swear I can't stretch anymore! I never got this big with Anna. She was so little. I fear this one will be a big one."

"I remember the feeling well." Michaela laughed.

Eventually, the girls returned and so did the men. They made quick work of packing up the remaining food. After which, Mattew grabbed Mabel's hand and helped her up. Sully did the same with Michaela. Suddenly, Michaela felt lightheaded and dizzy and she sank gracefully back to the ground as everything went black.