I've said it before and I'll say it again and again. I have the best friends ever.

After the sheriff left, taking Al with him, Eric stepped up to help Uriah for the rest of the afternoon. Matthew had to go out to the west pasture to fix a break in the fence, and Marlene and I were busy getting the food ready for Tobias' birthday celebration. By the time Matthew returned, Eric and Uri had everything taken care of in the barn. Matthew had a date planned, but he generously offered to postpone it. Thanks to Eric, he didn't need to.

Marlene and I got dinner ready before the rest of the Pedrad clan arrived. We roasted a ham in the oven, and made enough mashed potatoes and gravy for a small army. We also prepared rolls, beverages, and a couple of the side dishes.

.

xxxx

.

Zeke and Shauna arrive right on time, bringing the Pedrad's mother, Hanna, and my niece, Bella. I'm alerted to their arrival by the friendly chorus of barks from my dogs.

"Hee-she! Cocoa!" Three-year-old Bella squeals as her father unloads her from the car. Zeke carries the excited toddler so she won't get knocked over by my equally excited chocolate labs, but Bella squirms and wiggles to be set free. Zeke complies when he gets to the porch, and Bella tries desperately to wrap the wiggling dogs in loving hugs. The dogs aren't crazy about being grabbed by the little girl, but they wag their tails and manage to get in a few doggy kisses on Bella's chubby cheeks.

We all laugh at the exuberant greeting, and Bella notices Marlene and I behind the screen door. "Auntie Maweene! Auntie Tiss!" she yells.

We step onto the porch to hug and kiss our adorable, wild little niece. Bella looks like a perfect combination of Zeke and Shauna, but her excitable, energetic nature is all Pedrad.

"Cake?" she asks me when it's my turn for a hug. I'm pretty sure that, like her Uncle Uri and a certain handsome veterinarian I know, Bella mostly loves me for my cake.

"After dinner," I promise, earning a big grin.

"Whewe Unca Ooey?" she asks. I love the way Bella says "Uncle Uri" like she's talking about ooey gooey fudge. I know she'll get the L and R sounds soon enough, but I really hope the name sticks. I don't think I'm the only one, either. Last week at church I heard Shauna say something to Bella about "Uncle Ooey."

"Should we ring the bell?" I ask my niece, who nods vigorously. I carry Bella to the dinner bell and hold her so she can reach the rope. It clanks and bonks awkwardly as she tries pulling with her chubby toddler hand.

"You do it," Bella orders me. "Loud."

She covers her ears, and I yank the cord back and forth, making a loud racket. A minute later, Uri emerges from the barn and calls out, "Was that my Bella ringing?"

"Unca Ooey!" she screams, nearly diving out of my arms.

I set Bella on the ground and she takes off running toward her uncle. Just then, Eric emerges from the barn and Bella stops dead in her tracks. Uriah is close to her, so he grabs the little girl and throws her in the air - their usual greeting. Bella doesn't laugh, she just stares at Eric and buries her head in Uriah's shoulder shyly.

"Who dat?" I hear her ask her uncle.

"That's our friend Eric," Uriah explains. "He's helping me and Auntie Tris with the horses. Eric is a doctor for horsies."

"Hosie sick?" Bella asks, concerned enough to peel her eyes off the stranger for a second as she looks to Uriah for an answer.

"One horsie is sick," Uri says. "But Dr. Eric is fixing him. Some of the horses have baby horsies in their tummies, too, and Dr. Eric is making sure they're healthy."

As Uriah finishes his explanation, Eric catches up with them. "You must be Bella," he says to the little girl. "Your Uncle Uriah and Auntie Tris told me all about you."

Bella just buries her face in Uriah's shoulder and refuses to acknowledge the large stranger.

"Are you sure she's a Pedrad?" Eric teases Zeke as they shake hands in greeting. "I've never seen one of you so quiet."

"It won't last," says Shauna, stepping off the porch to greet Eric with a hug.

He exchanges hugs with Hanna as well. "What's this I hear about a sick horse?" Hanna asks him.

"We've had quite the day!" says Uriah, launching into the story about Al, Flash, and the onions.

As Uri tells his family about our crazy day, Eric steps beside me and puts an arm around me. I lean my head on his shoulder and ask, "Are you sure he'll be okay?"

"Uriah?" asks Eric. "No. I'm pretty sure Hanna dropped him on his head at some point."

I giggle. "I already knew that," I say. "I was asking about Flash."

"He's fine," Eric assures me for the millionth time today. "I promise."

I look up and see an "I-told-you-so" look on Shauna's face. Whether that's because Eric and I are being so cozy, or because of Al, I'm not sure. When Uriah finishes his story, everyone is riveted, even Bella. Uri is a great storyteller. He probably worked in some exaggerations when Eric and I weren't paying attention.

"Unca Ooey," asks Bella, serious-faced for once. "What about the bad man? He gonna huit the hosies 'gain?"

"No way!" says Uriah. "The sheriff took him to jail, and he's not allowed to come back. Eric, Matthew and I won't let him!"

"Auntie Mar and Auntie Tris won't let him either!" I say. "Girls can be just as tough as boys, Bella-boo."

"Yeah!" Bella cheers.

I herd the family into the farmhouse, and I love the way my quiet home fills with laughter and life. The younger women are busy in the kitchen. We dish up food and I carry things to the dining room. Hanna and the men hang out in the living room, and Bella is everywhere at once. Zeke and Uriah end up wrestling with each other while Hanna and Eric exchange stories about Eric's father, whom Hanna knew since childhood.

"Dinner's ready!" I call. Bella runs to the table and hops up and down by her booster chair. Hanna grabs a magazine off the coffee table and whacks her sons with it to stop the wrestling match. Eric makes his way to the kitchen and asks me if there is anything he can help with. I assure him it's covered, and he gives me a quick kiss.

I walk into the dining room with a heaping dish of mashed potatoes and catch Eric trying to make friends with Bella, who is still being shy.

"Can I help you into your seat, Miss Bella?" Eric asks, squatting in front of my niece.

Bella shakes her head and averts her gaze.

I slip into the kitchen, cut a tiny, tiny sliver off one of the Dauntless cakes, and lay it on a plate. I take a small spoon from the drawer and go back to the dining room.

Eric has moved to a chair at the opposite end of the table from Bella's seat, and the toddler is keeping her eye on him from behind a chair. I slide the plate in front of Eric, nod toward Bella, and give him a wink as I walk back to the kitchen.

Not three minutes later I return to the dining room with a pitcher of lemonade and the gravy boat, and find a chocolate-faced Bella sitting on Eric's lap, jabbering away. I stifle a laugh and grab a napkin to clean Bella's face and hide the evidence.

The family files in to the dining room, and Shauna tries to lift her daughter from Eric's lap. "No!" Bella declares. "I sit Unca Docta."

"Uncle Doctor," Marlene laughs, "I like it!"

"Him hosie docta!" declares Bella, brightly.

"Let's all sit in our own chairs," Zeke tells his daughter. "Uncle Horsie Doctor needs to eat his dinner, too."

Bella plants a kiss on Eric's cheek before Zeke lifts her off his lap. I pull out the seat next to Eric, and he leans in to whisper in my ear. "I told you that Dauntless cake is magic."

"That girl would get in a van with a kidnapper for chocolate, just like her Uncle 'Ooey,'" I say.

.

xxxx

.

Dinner is a lively affair, capped off by a chorus of "Happy Birthday" and thick slices of Dauntless cake in honor of Tobias. While everyone is singing I glance up at the sideboard, to a wedding photo of Tobias and I. I smile thinking of how much he would have enjoyed this day with our makeshift family. I wonder how many kids we would have adopted by now, and how different my life would be if he had lived.

Fortunately the weather holds, and after cleaning up the kitchen we have a bonfire in the yard. I think this is the latest we've been able to do this in all my years at Dauntless. I grab a seat on one of the ancient stumps around my fire pit while Uriah starts the blaze.

Eric sits down beside me, his new buddy Bella trailing not far behind. He lifts Bella onto his knee and nudges me with his shoulder. I lean in to him and share a smile with my niece. My melancholy from earlier has stayed with me a bit, but at the same time I'm content.

"I need to check on Flash again this evening," says Eric in a low tone.

"Fash?" asks Bella "Hosies?"

"Flash is one of her favorites," I tell Eric. "She's going to want to tag along. Is he presentable for visitors?" I raise an eyebrow at him, trying to convey my concern about traumatizing the little girl with the sight of a sick horse.

"Well," answers Eric, sounding amused, "Flash is naked, but I think he's up for visitors."

Bella laughs loudly, turning everyone's attention toward us. "Hosie naked!" she says between giggles.

I explain Eric's joke to the family and tell them that the three of us are going to check on Flash.

Bella insists on holding hands with both me and "Uncle Doctor" on the way to the barn, and she jabbers away on the short walk. I hear Cocoa and Hershey's names in the mix, as well as something about Grandma, but I'm not really paying attention. Instead, I'm focused on the tall, muscular man who appears to be hanging on her every word.

I don't know where Eric got experience with kids, but he certainly knows how to interact with Bella. As she jabbers, his face is animated, and he throws in occasional comments like, "Wow!" and "No way!" This fuels Bella's stories even more, and her tall tales get bigger and bigger as we walk across the yard and into the barn at toddler pace.

In the barn, Eric hits the light switch while I scoop Bella into my arms. We look at the pregnant mares while Eric checks on Flash. When he assures me, yet again, that Tobias' horse is fine, and fit for visitors as long as they stay out of his stall, I bring Bella over there. I remind her that Flash is sick, so we need to be quiet and gentle. She looks at me with serious eyes and squeezes her lips shut.

As we walk up to the stallion's stall, I'm pleased to see that he looks less distressed than he did earlier in the day. I help Bella gently pet his nose, and he doesn't shy away.

"He looks better," I say to Eric, emotion weakening my voice.

"I told you; he's going to be fine. Didn't you believe me?" There's a shade of hurt in Eric's words, and tears roll down my cheeks.

"Oh Tris," he says huskily, coming out of Flash's stall to envelope me in a hug, Bella and all.

"Auntie Tiss, no sad," says Bella, her bottom lip quivering.

"I'm not sad," I say, smiling at the little girl as I lean into Eric. "I'm happy because Doctor Eric fixed Flash. I thought it might take a long time for him to get better, but he's getting better quickly. Sometimes, when a person is scared and they suddenly stop being scared, it makes them cry. I was scared about Flash all day, but now I see he's going to be better really soon, and it made me cry."

Bella smiles, and I gaze up at Eric. My explanation was as much for him as for the toddler in my arms. "I don't doubt your veterinary skills or your word," I say, looking deep into his soft grey eyes. "I'm just a mother hen worried about one of her brood."

Eric leans down and kisses me softly, causing Bella to giggle and cover her eyes.

We spend the rest of the evening curled up in an old blanket by the fire. Bella never leaves her newly adopted uncle's side, and neither do I. Sharing a blanket with Eric is toasty warm; his big body generates a lot of heat. It doesn't take long before Bella is asleep, and I can tell I'm not far behind.

It's too cold to stay outside very late. We talk about going in and digging up some board games, but dealing with Flash, Al, and the birthday party made for a long day. I carry Bella to the car, and Shauna straps her sleeping daughter into her seat.

"How is it that she always ends up sleeping on your lap?" asks Shauna. "Little fireball hasn't fallen asleep in my arms since she was a tiny baby."

"Today I'd say the chilly evening and sharing a blanket with Dr. Space Heater did the trick," I reply.

"Speaking of 'Uncle Doctor,'" says Shauna, waggling her eyebrows. "You two seem pretty cozy."

I blush. "We've kissed a few times," I admit quietly. "And today he went with me to visit Tobias' grave."

"So are you, like, boyfriend and girlfriend?" Shauna probes.

"I don't know," I admit. "We haven't talked about it. This isn't as easy as it was in high school."

Shauna laughs. "It wasn't easy then, either. I had the biggest crush on Zeke all through high school. Before that, even! I got my heart broken on a regular basis as he dated his way through every girl in town. Senior year he finally admitted that he'd had a crush on me for just as long. He only dated those other girls because he thought I wasn't interested. When he told me that, I smacked him! Literally! I slugged him right in the shoulder. We wasted so much time…"

I laugh and shake my head. "Things work out for a reason," I tell my friend. "If you had gotten together at 14, you would have been pregnant by 16 and you know it!"

"You're probably right," Shauna laughs. "We had to grow up a bit so we wouldn't do something stupid."

"Well, you grew up," I say, pointing at her husband, who is trying to juggle three beer cans instead of loading the car like Shauna asked. He misses one of the beer cans, and it hits the ground, bursting open and spraying its contents all over Zeke.

"Damn it, Zeke!" Shauna yells, though I hear laughter in her voice. "Now you're going to get pulled over on the way home, and Sheriff Evan will smell that and make you take a field sobriety test!"

This gets us all laughing, and we make Shauna promise to record a video if it happens. I step into the house to find a towel for Zeke. Eric follows me up the porch steps, a pile of neatly folded old quilts in his arms. He deposits them in their place in the waterproof box on my porch.

Without me even asking, he takes out the kitchen garbage, gathering trash in the yard on his way to the bin. He's good-looking, helpful, good with kids, and a doctor to boot. How is this guy still single, and what is he doing here with me?

.

xxxx

.

Eric hangs around when the Pedrads all leave. He asks if there is anything else he can help with, but I assure him that it's all cleaned up. We sit down at the kitchen table, and I offer to make a pot of decaf coffee, but Eric declines.

"Will you be okay by yourself tonight?" he asks, his face full of concern.

"I've been okay here by myself for most of the last eight years," I remind him. "Birthdays, anniversaries, holidays - they can be hard. But it's been a long day, so after a shower to wash off the bonfire smell I'll just head to bed. Tomorrow I have a ranch to run. Life goes on."

"May I ask what you were thinking about when we were singing the birthday song?" Eric asks gently as he reaches across the table for my hand. "You seemed out of it for a minute there, and you've been a bit melancholy ever since."

I sigh. "It's nothing," I say, trying to brush off his concern and keep my emotions in check.

Eric reaches across the small table to take my chin in his hand. He forces me to look into his sincere grey eyes. "Tris," he says, "your feelings matter. You don't have to talk about it with me if you don't want to, but don't tell me it doesn't matter. You can tell me that you miss Tobias. You can even tell me that you wish he was here instead of me. I can take it."

Tears spill over my lower lashes. "Eric, don't say things like that," I admonish. "I can honestly say that thought has never crossed my mind. I gave up wishing things were different a long time ago. I've accepted my losses and my life the way it is now. It's just…" my voice breaks as another wave of tears washes over my face. "I just…"

I can't choke out the words. My nerves are frayed by the day we've had - the memories, the fear of losing Flash on Tobias' birthday, Al's arrest and knowing he'll be here again tomorrow to get his things. I'm exhausted and emotional. I lay my head on my arms and sob.

In a heartbeat Eric is around the table and on his knees beside my chair. He pulls me into his arms, and somehow we end up on the kitchen floor as Eric holds me like a child and I sob into his shoulder.

"I… I just… We wanted a family," I stammer between sobs. "We were… We were working on adopting. Tobias couldn't have kids, so we were… paperwork… plans… Then it was all just... gone. In one moment… I'm an island... There is no generation before me, and no generation after. The Prior and Eaton families ended the day Tobias died. I'm just the caboose who has to watch it all dissolve away.

"Sometimes, I see Hanna with her family and I think about my mom. She never visited my home. I think about my dad, who wasn't there to walk me down the aisle or perform my wedding ceremony. They went to bed one night and just didn't wake up.

"I see Bella and I wonder what kind of family Tobias and I would have had - what it would be like to live every day in a house full of noise and life. When Tobias… When he died, I lost more than the man I loved. I lost the future. I lost the last of my family and the dream that there could be more."

At this point I dissolve completely into a sobbing, sniveling mess. Eric doesn't say anything, he just holds me tightly as I cry.

Eventually I get a hold on my emotions. "I'm so sorry," I whisper. "I hate breaking down like this. I'm sorry you had to see it."

"I'm not," says Eric, his voice soft and deep. "You were there with me when Dad died. You know I've felt some of the same losses. I know the 'last man standing' feeling. I'm sorry today was hard for you, but I'm glad I'm here to walk through it with you."

He lifts me off his lap and stands up. We walk into the living room, where Eric sits me on the couch and tucks a blanket around me before walking to the kitchen. He comes back with a glass of water and two ibuprofen.

"Crying always gives me a headache," he explains. "Do you need these?"

I accept the pills gratefully and take them, draining the glass of water. He refills my glass and seats himself beside me on the sofa.

"How are you feeling?" he asks gently.

"Better," I say, averting my eyes shyly. "Tired."

Eric stands, kisses me gently on the forehead, then proceeds to walk around the main level of my house. He checks the lock on the seldom-used front door, looks at the windows, checks the stove, and shuts off all the lights except the one in the kitchen and the lamp beside me.

"Can I tuck you in?" he asks. "I promise to lock up on my way out."

I agree, still feeling vulnerable and exhausted after my breakdown. We walk upstairs, and Eric sits in a chair near my bed while I take a quick shower and get ready. When I come out of the bathroom in my pajamas, he stands wordlessly and pulls back the covers on my side of the bed. I climb in, flooded with memories of my childhood, and being tucked in by my parents.

Eric pulls the blankets up over my shoulders and brushes the hair away from my face. He sits on the edge of my bed and rests a hand on my cheek. "Your life isn't over," he says softly. "It's new, and different from the one you planned, but it's far from over."

I nod, unable to speak as I fight to stay awake. Eric leans in and gently kisses my forehead, then stands up. He lingers a moment beside my bed, then crosses to the door. As he lets himself out of my room I think I hear him whisper, "I love you," as I drift off to sleep.