"So, what are the kids up to?" Amanda inquired when Lee returned to the kitchen.

"Well, Phillip and Jamie went outside with the other boy...uh..."

"Glenn," she supplied. "You weren't in the room when I learned his name."

"Right," he nodded. "Anyway, Sunny said they went outside to play...to use her words 'football or something.'" He went on to detail the rest of his conversation with her and ended his story by letting out a dry chuckle.

"What?"

"I just find it so funny that her name is Sunny when her disposition is anything but," he laughed.

"Oh, come on. You can hardly blame her. We don't know all that much about them, but we do know they've had a rough time. You said yourself that you believe it's been less than a year since they lost their parents."

"Yeah, I guess. I...uh...I just wish I knew how to talk to her to get her to trust me." He ran a hand through his hair and let out a sigh. "Maybe you were right all along and I'm just not cut out for fatherhood."

"Sweetheart..." she began in a tone that was half-scolding, half-soothing. "I never said that. You did. When I didn't immediately agree to have another baby, you went on the defensive and thought I thought that, but I never, ever thought any such thing. My hesitating about it has absolutely nothing to do with you."

"Okay, okay. You're right. You never did. That was all me, but you did bring up the trouble I had with Alexi and with Jamie," he pointed out. "And you weren't wrong and that just makes me wonder, what if it's true? What if I can't handle being a dad?"

"Lee, I know you and I know you can do anything you set your mind to. After all, you got through to Jamie once he realized that you weren't trying to take me away from him. As for Alexi, that wasn't your fault. He was under a tremendous amount of stress because he was afraid for his parents' lives and he was convinced that he was the only one who could keep them safe. I think it's something similar with Sunny. You said that she told you she and her siblings only had each other, right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"So, that pretty much tells us that they don't have any other family they can depend on, so I imagine she feels like she's the only one who can take care of her brother and sister, especially since she made that comment to me about grown-ups."

"Well, if that's the case, we'll have to prove her wrong just like we did with Alexi," he replied with a determined nod. He then gestured to the notepad in her hand. "So, how's the list coming?"

"Oh, that's another funny thing; look what I found in the refrigerator." She opened the fridge, followed by the bottom crisper drawer. "See?"

Lee peered into the drawer his wife had pointed out and chuckled again when it saw that it was full of ice and two freshly-caught fish. "I'll be damned. I guess we didn't have to worry too much about the kids starving."

"Yeah, I couldn't help laughing when I saw it because one of your selling points from the brochure on this place was that they have year-round fishing for brook trout and you know how much the boys and I enjoy fishing."

"Huh." He shook his head with a laugh. "Apparently, so do these kids. So, maybe I don't need that list after all."

Amanda frowned. "I'm glad they're at least eating, but I hate to think of them only living on fish all this time."

"What do you mean, all this time? We don't even know for sure how long they've been hiding out here."

"Oh, I know, but it appears to have been awhile because they seemed pretty settled in, which means they've been fending for themselves for the whole time they've been here. I still think they need a real, well-balanced meal."

"Amanda, I was just teasing," he replied. "I said I'd make a run to the store and I will. I'm just curious how someone with your eye for detail overlooked it until just now."

"Because I wasn't the one who put everything away, remember? I was going to, but then we got sidetracked and Jamie did it while I was dealing with our surprise guests."

"Brrr...it's cold out there," Jamie commented as he and the other two boys came back inside to warm up shaking snow off their clothes.

"I'm starving!" Phillip proclaimed as he entered the kitchen. "Mom, when's dinner?"

Before Amanda could answer, they were interrupted by a loud, ""Hey!" from the doorway.

"What are you doing?" Sunny demanded hotly. "That's our dinner!" She stomped across the room and slammed the drawer closed. I froze my butt off this morning to catch those so we'd have something to eat!"

"No one's going to take them from you," Amanda assured her. "In fact, we were just talking about what we were going to have for dinner. We did bring some supplies with us. Lee here was just going to run to the store to get a few more things and we're happy to share what we have with you."

"We can take care of ourselves," she responded sullenly.

"Come on, Sunny," Glenn argued. "It would be nice to have something besides fish for dinner for a change."

"Yeah," Ivy chimed in and wrinkled her nose. "Fish is icky."

"See?" Glenn crowed. "Ivy's tired of fish too."

The older girl sighed. She had to admit that she was getting tired of trout dinners too, but she was only doing what she had to do to take care of her family without having to resort to stealing to do it.

"Please?" her brother pleaded.

"Yeah, okay," she finally relented. "BUT we're going to work for our keep," she insisted.

"That sounds fair," Amanda agreed. "How about this? Since you obviously know how to cook, you can help me in the kitchen while I fix dinner."

"Okay."

"But before we can do that, someone needs to make that trip to the store," she shot her husband a pointed look as she tore off the top page from her notepad and handed it off to him.

"Message received," Lee responded as he went to retrieve his coat.

"While he's gone. I think the rest of us need to get unpacked and work out what the sleeping arrangements are going to be."

"Well, it's just a good thing I booked the 4-bedroom cabin, isn't it?" Lee teased his wife as he remembered their discussion about it.

"Okay, yes," she conceded. "Now, go on." She gave him a shove toward the front door.

"I'm going, I'm going."

As soon as Lee was out the door, she clapped her hands together authoritatively. "Okay, Kids. Let's get to work on those bedrooms." She commanded as she steered them in that direction. She gave a nod toward the one they'd found the girls in and said, "Now, since the girls have already pretty well camped out in this one, I don't see a need to move them when they're already comfortable. Now, that leaves two other rooms for the three boys."

"Lee promised Jamie and me we wouldn't have to share a room," Phillip protested when he saw where his mother was going.

"Do you have a better suggestion?"

"Since they're not supposed to be here anyway, why can't they all share a room?"

"For a couple of reasons," she replied. "First of all, I think Sunny and Glenn are a bit too old to be sharing a room. Putting boys and girls together is fine when they're little, but Sunny is..." She paused when she realized she didn't know just how old the kids were except the youngest since Lee had informed her of his chat with them. She nodded to the older girl. "How old are you?"

"She's 13," Glenn informed Amanda knowing his sister wouldn't. "And I'm 9, almost 10."

"What does it matter?" Sunny shrugged. "We can share. We've done it before."

"Hmmm..." Amanda wondered if this wasn't the first time they'd run away and if they'd ended up in even worse places. She shook off that thought. "But still, this place is plenty big enough that you shouldn't have to."

"Well, Ivy's staying with me," Sunny insisted.

"Of course she is. I already suggested that. Now, that just leaves us to decide what to do with the boys and as I was saying to Phillip, the boy/girl thing is just one reason that you three shouldn't be sharing a room. Another is that it wouldn't be quite fair to put three kids in one room when there are three bedrooms that we can split up among the five of you."

"Look, we can just go," Sunny suggest sadly. "It's obvious your son doesn't want us here."

"I never said that," Phillip argued. "I tried to be nice to you when we first got here, remember?" He rubbed his sore jaw for emphasis. He then turned to his mother. "So, how about putting Glenn on the sofa in the living room?"

Amanda shook her head. "And put each of you in a big queen-sized bed by yourselves. I don't think that would be fair either."

"But it's not fair to us to have to share when Lee told us we wouldn't have to," Phillip countered.

Jamie, who'd been silently observing the back-and forth, finally piped up, "Glenn can share with me." He glowered at his brother. "That way Clark Kent here can be all alone in his Fortress of Solitude."

"Hey!" Phillip protested. "If anyone's Clark Kent around here, it's you, Four-eyes! Nerdiness and all."

"But that's just Superman's disguise," Jamie argued. "It's not really who he is, Stupid!"

"Knock it off with the name-calling, both of you!" their mother reprimanded them. She blew out a long breath to keep her cool. "Now, Jamie, are you sure you don't mind giving up having your own room?"

"I'm sure, Mom." He nodded to the younger boy. "Besides, Glenn's cool. We had a good time together."

Amanda smiled as she reflected back on her younger son's desire to be a big brother and wondered if that was where his selflessness was coming from. "I'm glad you had a good time."

"Yeah, Glenn's got a great arm! I couldn't believe how fast he could throw a football."

Glenn flushed slightly, looking a little embarrassed at the compliment. "I've had some practice." He shrugged as his face clouded over with hints of sadness. "I used to be a pitcher on my Little League team. Throwing a football's not that much different."

Amanda caught his change in facial expression and changed the subject back to the matter at hand. "Okay, then. Now that it's all settled who's sharing a room, why don't you two..." She indicated her sons."...finally go get unpacked and settled into your rooms while Sunny and I get started on dinner?"

"I thought we had to wait until your husband got back," Sunny inserted.

"For the main stuff, yes, but we've got enough in there to get started on a salad."

As they started to walk toward the kitchen, Ivy wrapped one arm around her sister's legs as she clutched The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in the other. "Read," she pleaded.

"Ivy, we just finished reading the whole thing for like the hundredth time," Sunny reminded her as she rolled her eyes. "Besides, I promised I'd help with dinner."

Glenn took Ivy by the hand. "I'll read it to you...again," he offered with a resigned sigh and led her into the living room.

"Good," Amanda said as she and Sunny strolled back toward the kitchen. "So, since you obviously know how to clean and filet a fresh fish, I'm guessing you can handle chopping vegetables." She reached into a drawer for a knife.

"Sure. My mom taught me how to do a lot of stuff in the kitchen," she answered as a flicker of fresh pain flitted over her face and took the knife from Amanda.

Amanda gazed at the young teen and her heart ached for her, wishing she could somehow take her pain away. "It's a good skill to have. You know, my older boy Phillip took a cooking class in school last year. He's actually getting to be pretty good in the kitchen too," she told the girl as the pair set to work.

Sunny nodded. "Glenn knows some stuff too and he helps me sometimes, but mostly he takes care of Ivy while I cook.

"I noticed." She gave a slight nod toward the living room where he was sitting on the sofa with their baby sister. "So, he said he used to pitch? He doesn't anymore?"

Sunny shook her head. "How can he when there's no one to pay for it anymore?"

"Right." Amanda sighed, a wave of guilt washing over her. She should have known better than to ask. While she'd struggled as a single parent to keep her boys involved in their activities so they never felt deprived, it hadn't even occurred to her that it would be even more challenging for these kids who didn't have even one parent.

They lapsed into silence for a moment with Amanda occasionally glancing Sunny's way in an attempt to ascertain her mood. "You're left-handed," she commented.

"Yeah, so?"

"Lee is too," she replied in an attempt to find some kind of connection between her family and theirs. As she watched, she couldn't help noticing Sunny struggling a bit due to the bulky sweater she wore. She set down her own knife and reached to help her. "Your sleeve keeps flopping over your hand. Why don't we just get it out of your way?"

"No!" she girl yelped as she hastily covered up her left arm, but not before Amanda caught a glimpse of the ugly scar that covered the girl's forearm. Sunny dropped the knife abruptly and ran from the room.