Another huge thank you to all the reviewers. I can't respond to guest reviews, but know that you, too, are appreciated. I'm sorry about the cliffhangers, but one has to find a good place to end a chapter. At least I update quickly and don't leave characters hanging from cliffs for weeks or months, right? That has to count for something.

Another special thanks again to Sue. She was the inspiration for Ace's injury and a huge help in figuring out which schools the boys would be going to. Unfortunately, I had made a mistake very early on in the story and it was too hard to fix it, so Ford and Guthrie are in the same school and Evan and Daniel are. Oh well….such is life.

On with the story, hope it doesn't disappoint.

Chapter 25

"Brian…I can explain…"

"Oh I can't wait," Brian snorted, "I can't wait to hear you explain to me why you continued to lie to us."

"Lie?" Crane looked shocked.

"Do the words lying by omission mean anything to you? Hmm?" Brian flung the words at the younger McFadden. "Letting us believe you did this alone, constantly saying 'I' when it should have been 'we', that's lying as well, mister!"

Crane felt like he was going to be sick, literally sick. His legs felt like jelly and he couldn't hold himself up anymore. He sought support at the wall, putting his hand against it. "I…."

"Shit, kid, I'm pulling an Adam here. Okay, okay…" For once, it had been Brian to lose his temper with one of the boys and he could kick himself for it. Shoot first, ask questions later was Adam's style. After all the emotional turmoil of the day and then staying up to make this phone call, the boy was bound to be exhausted. Brian's protective side kicked in. In two steps he was with Crane and put his arm around the boy's body, leading him to the porch swing. "Come here. We'll talk. And I mean talk, not yell."

Crane felt completely torn apart between his guilt towards Adam and Brian and his protectiveness of June. The idea that Brian thought he'd continued to lie was crushing him. And he couldn't deny the truth in it, but how could he have done differently? He curled up on the swing, wanting to disappear, but not being able to. As Brian sat down next to him the man couldn't help feeling his heart go out to the kid brother who looked absolutely shattered. The movement of sitting down had caused the bench to swing a little and Brian pushed off with his feet to keep it going. For some reason, he felt the movement would help Crane. If not, it definitely helped Brian.

"So let's start again…" Brian had managed to change his tone completely, "what's her name?"

"June." The word was a whisper, but uttered with reference and it made Brian smile a little.

"Beautiful name. Suits you, considering you were born in June."

"I never thought of that."

"So….you're serious about her." It wasn't a question.

"Yeah. But it's really….I mean, we met at introduction and have been friends ever since. But I never realized what I really felt until yesterday. Or maybe a little earlier, but I wasn't sure."

"Ah, so still all very new."

Crane nodded, a bit shy at this line of talk.

"Wow and already saying you love her." Crane had to admit it had surprised him as well that those words had come out, but he truly felt them. Where had that come from? Brian was still talking though, "Well, I certainly am not the right person to lecture you on relationships and sex."

"You are, Bri," Crane disagreed. "Just as much as Adam."

"Well, our older brother would feel differently. And maybe he has a point."

Crane sighed, "Don't put yourself down like that."

"Well, I guess we have you to talk about anyway."

A shudder when through Crane as he braced himself. "Sorry."

"You're saying that a lot the past 24 hours. And despite my trust issues with you right now, I do believe you meant them earlier. Not so sure you really are sorry now." Brian watched Crane blush and lower his head.

"I am, Brian, cause I didn't think about what it meant to you, that it was pretty much lying. I really am sorry for hurting you by that."

"Okay, that I do believe," Crane relaxed a little, but continued to study his hands. "Whose idea was the break in?"

Crane's head shot up, "Mine! Completely mine. I got her involved in it. Please, don't blame her."

"You got her involved and you love her. A lot of reasons to want to protect her."

"You would have done the same."

"Maybe, but I'm not the one who broke the law here. Nor did I lie. I'm the parental figure that has to handle the consequences of it. Let me ask you a question: did you force her to help?"

"No, of course not." Crane was almost insulted at the question, but Brian held up his hand.

"No need to get upset. You're smart enough to know why I'm asking."

And once Crane calmed down he, indeed, knew why, "As long as she wasn't forced she was a willing participant and therefore just as guilty. But, Brian, I….there was no need for both of us to get in trouble. If things had gone really wrong, I don't want her expelled or in jail."

"So you're her knight in shining armor…..do you think she wanted to see you expelled or in jail?"

"No, no one does. Even Daniel gave me that lecture."

"He did, did he?"

"Yeah, he did a good job of it too," Crane's wry grin wasn't visible in the dark, but his tone was clear.

"Hope you'll listen to him."

"I will…"

"Look, in your shoes I probably wouldn't have let on to the dean about her involvement either, I'll grant you that."

"I wish there'd been a way to protect her without not telling you…without lying."

"Don't you see, kid? There was." It surprised Brian a little that with all that intelligence his brother didn't see that.

Crane looked utterly confused, "But…Adam would have…"

"See? That's where you go wrong. You don't know what he would have done, because you never gave him the chance. You never gave me the chance."

"Oh," Crane swallowed.

"You don't trust us."

"I do!" Crane said emphatically, almost crying. He probably hated them thinking he didn't trust them even more than them not trusting him right now.

"Then show us. You could have talked to us. I can see you didn't want to tell the dean. You don't know the man. But you know us. And you should have told us. Or one of us. But you didn't."

Crane had to blink hard against the tears, but kept it dry for the time being, "I guess I'm sorry isn't good enough."

"To put it in your own words: actions speak louder than words, words are empty. So show us you trust us and you'll find us trusting you again. It's that simple."

Crane nodded, afraid to speak for fear of losing the battle against the tears. He studied his hands.

"You think you have to do it all alone and you don't. You've got us. So let us help you solve your problems."

"Are you mad?"

The voice didn't match the body of the 18-year-old. To Brian Crane sounded more like Cuthrie or Ford right now. He squeezed the boy's knee, "No, kiddo, I'm not mad anymore. You boys always seem to fear we stay mad. We don't. I'm hurt though. I won't deny that."

"You think I should tell Adam?"

"Well, I think it would help building that trust again. Just make sure not to give the impression she's a bad influence on you…she's not, is she?"

"No, I pro...I mean…" it hurt that he couldn't say the word promise anymore, "She's not. She's the best thing that's happened to me in a long time. She's lively, energetic, lights up a room. She's extremely smart, but unlike me, she doesn't bury herself in books."

"So she pulls you out a little…gets you to live…"

"Yeah, she makes every day special, she's amazing," Crane sighed, "Not to mention beautiful."

"I guess your grounding was even harder on you than we thought it would be."

"Yeah, but I deserve it, I know."

"That you do." Brian gave Crane's knee another squeeze and felt the boy shift a little until he was leaning against his older brother, who in turn, easily wrapped around arm around his charge, "I'd like to meet that girl some time. Maybe…maybe when things have calmed down a little and you've showed us you're learning from this punishment, you can bring her home for a weekend. Not right away, mind you, but maybe after a couple of weekends."

"You really mean that?"

"You bet I do. Anyone who's important to you, is important to us. Just…no more secrets, okay?" he lowered his hand and patted Crane's hip, just forceful enough to be a warning and Crane blushed in the dark.

"No more secrets or hiding things."

"Good," They sat there for a few minutes in silence, both grateful the silence wasn't a heavy tense one anymore. Unwilling to give up the comfort Brian was giving him right then, Crane tried to fight the exhaustion that was overtaking him, but Brian could feel it in the heaviness of Crane's lean and he'd heard the stifled yawn. "Time to head up, kiddo. Before you end up falling asleep here. And cold as it is right now, I wouldn't advise it."

With a nod Crane pushed himself up from the bench, his backside being the only part of him relieved to be standing. "Night, Brian…and thanks…"

"Don't thank me just yet…" Before Crane knew what was happening Brian had him in a vice grip and the fire in his backside was re-ignited when Brian's hand connected with it three times in succession, hard, and all in the same spot too. Crane was so taken by surprise that he didn't even have time to try and stifle the yelps as he tried to twist his body out of harm's way. "That, mister, was for breaking your grounding by being out here on the phone, in the middle of the night." He landed another one causing Crane to jump, "And that was for not trusting me to understand." He released Crane and watched the boy immediately turn around while rubbing his behind. It may have only been four swats, but on an already sore butt and with nothing but pajama bottoms to protect him, they had certainly been felt. "Be glad I decided to relent. When I heard you talking out here I was ready to give you much more than that. But…I think most of that was me being hurt you hadn't told us about June. Still…break your grounding or keep things from us again and I won't stop at four. Clear?"

"Crystal…" Crane still hadn't stopped rubbing, "Man, that really hurt."

"It was supposed to. No sympathy here," Brian said, although more than a little compassion did shine through. "Go on up, you need your sleep."

"Kay…night…" Crane didn't repeat the 'thanks', but he knew Brian was right: he had been more than aware of the rules surrounding phone calls and other privileges during grounding. This learning curve he was on in trusting his brothers to have his back, certainly was a steep one. Still rubbing he made his way up the stairs back to bed. He'd be really happy never to get swatted again. Ever.

With everything that was going through his head, he thought he'd have a hard time sleeping despite his exhaustion, but as soon as his head hit the pillow he was out and he didn't wake up until Daniel shook his shoulder.

"Crane…Crane! Adam says you gotta come down for breakfast."

"Wh…what…" Crane opened his eyes and immediately closed them again. Daniel had switched on the light and it hurt his eyes. "Is it morning?"

"Duh…"

Crane shot up, "Chores!"

"Done," Daniel grinned. "You covered for me plenty of times. Besides, the way Adam made it sound you're not even supposed to do chores. You know, it's not fair. When any of the rest of us are grounded we get long lists of chores. You don't hafta do a thing."

Crane pulled his hands through his hair and then rubbed his eyes to wake himself up, "That's because there's little I would rather do than help out. It's gonna be murder having to sit here doing nothing when I know how much work there is and how badly they need me. Trust Adam to come up with such a diabolical punishment."

"Still think it's not fair." Daniel started pulling at Crane's blanket. "Come on…Adam said we had to be there in 5 minutes. Guthrie's chomping at the bit to get to school. He's bouncing all over the place. If it was up to him he'd already be out the door. To just wait there in the snow for the bus." Daniel rolled his eyes as he got his own things ready for school.

"Okay...okay...I'm coming…" Slipping out of bed Crane reached for his jeans. "He had some kind of school breakfast right?"

"Yeah and the exhibition. Same as Ford. End of semester stuff. Ford's really happy you're here."

"Well, I have to admit I'm happy that I get to see it too. Just wish the circumstances were different." Crane pulled on a sweater, "Really glad I'll get to see you perform too."

"Me too…but don't forget that most of the big stuff is done by the seniors."

"Oh I know…still glad I can be there."

"Too bad you're grounded," Daniel suddenly thought of something, "that bites, I'm sure we'd have time enough to redo the picture. It'd be much better with you really in it."

"Oh yes, the present. You guys had that done right?"

"Yeah…We went in yesterday, even had Brian think we brought it home already. But I'm sure Chuck could still get it finished if we had to do it again. IF you could get to town."

Daniel's disappointed face broke Crane's heart. He had his hand on the doorknob to head downstairs, but hesitated for a moment, "Look I'm not going to push my boundaries right now. I've done enough of that. But, having said that, I think there are still things I can do. Aside from wrapping. You know I kill at wrapping. But, I was thinking…maybe Chuck can come here?"

"He might…" Daniel thought about it. "I can't get away from school long enough to ask though."

"And I can't call him." If the slight soreness didn't remind Crane of that, the memory of Brian swatting him on the porch did a good job of that. Not that Crane needed reminders not to break the rules. He never was one to do much of that. "Maybe one of you could call him? Either he comes here, or he meets us at school today….but that means I'd have to at least let Adam and Brian know there's some surprise going on. They'll never let me leave their sight otherwise."

"Kay…I'll call him before I leave for school. I'll let you know okay?"

"Okay…" Crane opened the door and led the way downstairs.

"I was just about to holler," Adam teased as they both sat down at the table.

"We had important stuff to talk about, Adam," Daniel explained grinning.

"You boys had better not keep any secrets," Adam couldn't help being a little suspicious, especially after the previous day.

Daniel refrained from rolling his eyes, but it took a lot, "It's Christmas time, Adam. That comes with secrets. Nothing bad, I promise."

"Okay, okay…I believe you," As he put the bacon on the table Adam looked at Guthrie, "Guth…I know you're having breakfast at school, but you did chores, you'll be on the bus for an hour…I want you to eat a bit anyway."

"But Adam…can't I go now? What if the bus is early? What if I miss it?" Guthrie's pleas made the rest laugh.

"The bus will be late. As usual." Evan loaded up his plate with bacon and scrambled eggs.

"It's not that bad, Evan," Brian poured Guthrie a glass of milk, "I want you to drink this, Guth. Come on."

"Is when it snows," Guthrie still wasn't moving away from the door.

"Well, it's not snowing now and although there is already snow, the roads are clear, so you can plant your backside on this chair, drink your milk and eat a piece of toast before you leave," Brian had his arms crossed as he looked at the young boy. Not even Guthrie was exempt from the famous McFadden stubborn streak and Brian wasn't about to let this escalate into something it needn't be. "That shouldn't take you more than 5 minutes, Guth. Come on."

Guthrie deliberated for a few long seconds whether or not he could win this battle, but he was a smart boy and knew when he was outnumbered. Besides, he also recognized the truth in Brian's words. "Okay…" He sat down and in two seconds downed the entire content of his glass before starting to wolf down his toast.

"Chew!"

With a sigh Guthrie slowed down, but now he went the opposite way and started eating exaggeratingly slow. Not that anyone paid him any mind.

"Talking about secrets, Adam…," Daniel hadn't sat down yet. "I need to make a quick call, but you can't ask questions."

"I'm really starting to dislike all these secrets," Adam groaned.

"No, you won't. This is a really nice one," Daniel assured. "I'll go into the living room…"

"Well, be quick, I do want you to eat before school!"

"Yes, dad!"

"Don't call me dad!" Adam called after him, but he had a smile on his face remembering their talk a few weeks ago. Daniel's wink told him that the young teenager remembered that talk as well. "Guthrie, I'm done playing games about breakfast."

"I am eating!"

"Like a normal person."

Seeing Adam was close to losing his temper Brian leaned over to the boy next to him, "Exciting day, huh?" The nod he got was emphatic, "Bet you had a hard time getting to sleep too…" another nod and Brian took the 8-year-old on his lap, "Come on, if you don't eat, you could get ill and miss it all. That wouldn't be worth it now, would it?"

Victory was his as Guthrie started to eat his toast at a normal pace. Adam rolled his eyes. He knew the soft approach often worked wonders, but sometimes he just didn't have the patience. The boys needed to learn to do as they're told.

The others had pretty much ignored the whole proceedings. Daniel had returned after what had indeed been a quick phone call and was now discussing the show with Evan while Ford was telling Crane all about the regionals again. Crane listened, but since Ford had already told him every single detail the previous night as they did the dishes, he allowed himself to enjoy the familiar sounds of his family at breakfast. He missed them so much when he was away, even though he enjoyed college immensely. And of course, now that he was here, he missed his friends there. And June. Oh how he missed her. And they hadn't even been able to properly say goodbye. Their phone call hadn't been enough. That thought made him blush, thinking about Brian hearing everything. He tried to remember exactly what he said. Had he embarrassed himself too much? He didn't think so. At least not during the phone call. And when it came to phone calls, he wondered what Daniel had arranged about the picture.

"See you later today, Crane!" Ford had jumped up and was putting on his coat along with his brothers. Guthrie was gone already.

"See you at school, Ford!" Crane ensured and watched them all file out.

Daniel was the last to put on his coat and before he left he suddenly walked over to Crane who had got to his feet. "I'm so glad you get to see the show," And with that he gave his brother a big hug. As he did Crane felt him slip something into the back pocket of his jeans, but the older boy didn't react to it.

"So am I, buddy!"

Daniel released him with a big wink and ran after the others.

"And no thanks to me whatsoever for allowing you," Adam grumbled.

"I thanked you," Crane disagreed, but he knew exactly what Adam meant. "He's grateful, Adam. He just doesn't know how to show it."

"There you go again, defending him…but at least he wasn't bullying you this time."

Crane blushed to his roots, unable to come up with a response to that. Instead he focused on practicalities and started clearing the table.

"Ahem…"

He looked up from with work to see both brothers watching him with raised eyebrows and arms in their sides. "What?"

"What did we say about work while you are grounded?"

"But…" he hadn't completely gotten rid of his blush yet and felt his face grow hot again.

"What did we say?" Adam repeated.

"No work unless you told me to."

"So what are you trying to do?"

"But Adam…this is not work, is it? I'm just helping. I've done this since I was 3. It's just chores…"

"We do without you when you're not here, we can do without you now." Brian took the plates from him and left the boy standing there dumbfounded.

"But…what do you want me to do then?"

"Right now?" Adam didn't have to think long, "Right now I'd like you to go up to your room and spend some time thinking about honesty, trust and about what you'd like your future to look like."

It shouldn't have come as a surprise. Even the previous day he'd suspected he'd be stuck in his room a lot for a while, but to actually hear it pronounced was a different matter. He needed a moment to digest it, but when he did he just nodded, "Yes, sir," and trudged up the stairs. Not to even be allowed to clear the table was hard. It made him feel like dead weight. If he wasn't allowed to even do this, he was certain there wasn't a single chore he'd be allowed to do. What on earth was he going to do with his time? Study? No, Adam said thinking, at least now, so he'd better do exactly what he'd been told. Not that he hadn't done a lot of thinking already, but considering what had happened with Brian only hours ago, he realized there was still some more thinking to do.

Watching their younger brother's forlorn figure disappear up the stairs was hard on the older two. Brian tried to busy himself with the dishes, but it wasn't working well.

"You sure you weren't too hard on him?"

Picking up a dish towel Adam looked at his younger brother and partner in ranching and child rearing, "You really think that or is it just your heart speaking?"

"Mostly my heart."

"Well," Adam picked up a plate and started to dry, "I think we have to be. This shows him how serious we are about him not working when he's here. Show him that we can manage without him. So he can focus on his one job in the world right now."

"I know…I just can't help thinking about how useless it must make him feel." He placed another plate in the rack. Adam was running behind as usual.

"I want him to feel taken care of."

"You can't make up time, Adam. You can't redo those 6 years."

"No, but I can bloody well take care of him now."

"Alright, you can, and you will." Brian knew he wouldn't win this one and since he'd been the one who had actually put this idea into Adam's head, he couldn't complain much either.

"Don't worry, bud," Adam smiled, "He'll earn the right to help out a little soon enough. In a few days we'll have him do dishes and clear the table…some of those little house hold chores. But I want him to know it is something that is not expected of him right now. He has to stop taking care of everyone else and take care of himself instead. And let us help him with that."

"I know…" Brian hesitated and then made a decision, "He's going to want to talk to you before we leave this afternoon, I'm sure."

Adam's suspicion was immediately raised, "Oh God, more confessions?"

"Yes, but…I've already handled it."

"Oookay," Adam didn't sound sure, "so you told me to tell me."

"Not really. I advised him that it would help if he told you. So listen to him, but know that everything's already been handled."

"Hmpf, so I get to be the understanding parent while you were the bad cop."

"I don't think he'd see it like that, although I think he knows now that I'm perfectly willing and able to swat him too."

Adam's eyes grew wide, "Well, that's a first."

"Yeah, but well deserved."

"You're not gonna say more, are you?"

"Nope. I'm….trusting Crane to do the right thing. And you."

"Ah so it's a test for all three of us."

"Jup…come on, bro, I'll run out of surface to put all these dishes on if you don't start drying again." He flicked some foam at Adam causing the man to laugh and retaliate by flicking the dish towel against Brian's leg. "Damn…you're asking for it, buddy…" Brian took the other dish towel and for a while the dishes were forgotten as they each reverted back to their school days in the locker rooms.

It was a good thing none of the younger boys saw them, because, of course, it would set a very bad example to them. Chores were not play time. But for two young men that had been forced to grow up too quickly, it was absolutely necessary to indulge every now and then in more juvenile behavior.

Upstairs, Crane was oblivious to the fact his older brothers were acting like high school idiots right now. The boy had stretched out on his bed to read the note Daniel had so discretely put in his pocket. He sighed. It was great that they could still do it with him really in it, but now he was faced with the problem of asking Adam for time away from him and Brian. In a way, it would have been easier on the ranch, although from the sound of it he wasn't going to see much of the inside of the barn for a while. But in town the two would be even more unlikely to let him go. Would Adam feel the Christmas card was pulled too often? Maybe he should ask Daniel to ask Adam?

He let his hand fall on the matrass, allowing it to bounce back. This was exactly what Brian had meant. Be open. Be honest. And trust them. But that was hard for someone who hadn't relied on anyone since the tender age of 12. He had to ask Adam this. AND he had to tell Adam about June and her involvement. Not to mention the fact that he had to tell Adam he'd snuck out to the porch to call her in the middle of the night. And then he just had to trust Adam to help him protect June. It scared him to death, but he had to do it.

Having only had a couple of hours sleep the previous night left the young student tired and it was no surprise that after a while of doing nothing he drifted off to sleep. A restless one, but sleep nonetheless. For the second time that day a hand shaking his shoulder woke him up and he sat up in shock.

"Is this your idea of thinking about your behavior?"

Crane knew he could point out that sleep was the best way to digest your day, that your brains needed the dreams to deal with everything on your mind, he could quote psychiatric studies on the benefits of dreaming, but he had a feeling Adam wouldn't appreciate those answers, "I'm sorry, I didn't get much sleep last night. I did think, but I fell asleep thinking."

Adam placed the tray with orange juice and a sandwich on Crane's nightstand. "I know you went to bed at 8 and I also know Daniel woke you up this morning, so you should have had a very, very decent night's sleep."

To win himself some time Crane picked up the glass of juice and took a sip, "Thanks…" he knew now was the time, but it wasn't easy. Where to start? "I…I went to bed at 8, but I didn't go to sleep."

"Oh?" Realizing Crane was working up to the announced confession, Adam wondered if he was ready to hear it. Or more importantly, if he was ready to react calmly. He prayed it was nothing too bad.

"Is it almost time to leave yet?"

"We still have time," Adam almost laughed at himself. He was actually nervous waiting for this news.

"I have to tell you something and it's really hard to, but I have to. Could you…maybe…just sit down?" It was hard enough without Adam standing over him. He waited until the man had sat down on Daniel's bed. He looked at the glass in his hand as if there was courage in the juice, "I…I don't know where to start."

"The beginning is usually a good place. Crane, I have to tell you, you're making me nervous here."

"I am nervous too. I…okay, the beginning…I lied yesterday."

"You lied that you did it?" Adam was confused.

"No, I…I know I never said I did it alone, but no one asked and I kept talking about just me…"

"But you had an accomplice."

Crane swallowed at the word. It made it sound very bad, but if he was honest, that's exactly what it was. He nodded. "There was someone else."

"And they let you take the fall?" Adam's protectiveness surfaced.

"Noooo, no not at all. I didn't give her a chance."

"Her!" Adam rolled his eyes and Crane couldn't help wonder how Adam would react if he did that. He probably wouldn't like it much. "Every time you're in trouble it's because of a girl."

"It's not like that, Adam, not this time," Crane couldn't really blame Adam for his reaction, considering what he'd told him at thanksgiving, "I got her involved, not the other way around. Like Brian pointed out, I didn't force her, but it was completely my idea."

"Hmmm," Adam still didn't like it.

"She's….she's special, Adam. Very special." The groan that escaped Adam's mouth was unmistakable.

"Aren't they all." He wondered if Crane was taking after Brian in the girl-department. It started to sound like it.

"She really is. We met at introduction and immediately we were best friends. I just never knew I liked her that way…or didn't realize…until two days ago. Maybe earlier, but I didn't want to risk losing a friendship…I don't know…"

"She's the girl that met us when we left Davis." Adam didn't have to hear the confirmation to know. Now that he knew it all made sense. That hug had been too long, too eager. In it, there had been a longing for more. He could see it clearly now.

Crane nodded, "Her name's June and I think I love her. No, I know I love her. It's just still so new."

"And you wanted to protect her."

"Yeah, but I should have told you once we got home."

"That you should have."

"I was afraid you'd want to call her parents."

"Well, don't you think they have the right to know?"

"She was willing to confess, but I wouldn't let her. Her parents….Adam, they're not like us."

"I'm sure they love their daughter and would hate to see her lose her place in school or have her end up in jail."

"I'm sure they love her, although they have a funny way of showing it," Crane looked up at Adam, an imploring look in his eyes and Adam realized there was more to the relationship between this girl and her parents than Crane could tell him, "Please, let me shoulder this alone. Please. I need to do this."

Adam studied Crane's face as the boy spoke. And he took some time to think about it. "Well, I guess since you didn't really have to tell us…"

Oh God, Crane thought, more confessions, "About that…"

"What? There's more?"

"Brian overheard me on the phone past midnight and so he figured it out from that." Crane got is out as quickly as possible. It was the easiest way. He watched Adam blink as the man realized what exactly he was confessing this time and then take a few calming breaths. It surprised him Adam didn't lose his temper.

"And Brian handled the lying and you being on the phone despite being grounded?"

"Yeah. Shocked the heck out of me."

"Is there anything unclear about what you are and are not allowed to when you're grounded?"

"No, sir. Perfectly clear." Another painful swallow before he added, "Are you going to…I mean…"

"No, it's been handled. Brian already told me he'd handled whatever you would tell me, if you'd tell me."

Crane lowered his head, sad that his brother had felt the need to inform Adam of that, knowing the man wouldn't be able to take his word for it. But then he realized the faith that was put in him by that same brother. Faith that he'd do the right thing. That thought made him feel better.

"Brian never told you to tell me. And so you didn't have to tell me, that's the bottom line. But I'm really glad you did. And although I'm sure that if I really put my foot down and told you to, you would give me her number…." He let that threat hang in the air for a bit, watching Crane sweat it out, "I won't. I'll let you shoulder the blame on your own."

Crane closed his eyes as relief washed over him, "Thank you!"

"It really means a lot to me that you confided in me. And I'd like to hear more about this girl of yours."

"Brian suggested I'd bring her home sometime."

"That's fine, but not for a while though."

"I know, no company over."

"Good, well…now that we've got this clear…" Adam got up, "why don't you finish lunch, freshen up a bit, and I'll call you when we're leaving."

"Eh…about that….there's one more thing…"

"Oh god, there's more?!" with a groan Adam sank back down on Daniel's bed.

It was two hours later that the three of them entered Michelson Elementary for the big Christmas Science Exhibition. Evan and Daniel were too busy with the final rehearsals for the show that night to get away from school, so it was just the three oldest McFaddens that walked in.

"Crane!" Guthrie came running down the hall and jumped right in his older brother's arms. Ford, who was close behind him, wished he could do the same thing, but at 12 that was definitely not cool.

"Hiya, guys," Crane laughed.

"Well, I guess Adam and I might as well leave," Brian teased, much to Guthrie's disgust.

"Noooo! You can't leave. Don't leave. You gotta see everything first."

"Don't worry, kid, we wouldn't miss this for the world." Adam took Guthrie from Crane seeing the longing look on Ford's face. "You boys will have to show us then…"

Ford immediately took Crane's hand, pulling him along and Guthrie did the same to Adam and Brian. "You gotta see mine first!"

Adam laughed, "And why is that, little buddy?"

"Cause mine's the first set up," Guthrie giggled.

"That's just cause you're the youngest with a project in this," Ford wasn't really upset though. He didn't mind at all if they saw Guthrie's first.

"Wow Guth, that looks really, really good!" Guthrie's solar system was indeed the very first project on display, a small paper name plate next to it, with his age under his name. Crane was suitably proud of his little brother. "Are you sure you're only 8?"

"You were there when I was born, silly!"

"Yes, indeed I was." Crane thought back to that moment with mixed emotions. There had been a pregnancy between Ford and Guthrie, but mom had miscarried. Crane still remembered his worries two years later that something would go wrong with either mom or the baby, but thankfully Guthrie had been perfectly healthy and so had mom. "But still…you'd think this was made by someone much, much older."

"Well, Adam did help," Guthrie freely admitted. "Parents could help and he did."

"Only a little," Adam immediately spoke up. "You did most of the work yourself and it was your own idea." He tousled Guthrie's hair, "You did a great job, Guthrie, I'm really proud of you."

"Me too, buddy," Brian draped an arm around the boy's shoulders, "And I've seen how much work you put into this."

"There's another solar system that's much better," Guthrie pointed at a project a few yards away. It did look much nicer, they all had to agree.

"I bet that either that kid's parents made it, or it's an older student."

"It's an older student," Ford said, "She's in my class. So don't worry about it, Guth, you did better than she did when she was 8. Can you imagine how good you're gonna be by the time you're my age!"

It made Guthrie beam with pride. "Ya really think so?"

"I know so," Ford assured.

"Can we go see Ford's now or do we gotta see them all?" Guthrie clearly had little patience for the whole process of this. It made the older brothers laugh a little.

"Well, why don't we go straight to Ford's first and then do a quick walk through to see some of the others."

Adam's suggestion met with approval and they made their way over to Ford's greenhouse. As they walked Adam pulled the boy in close and whispered, "That was really nice what you just said to Guthrie, kiddo."

Ford shrugged, "It was the truth, Adam." But he couldn't deny the warm feeling his big brother's praise gave him.

"Still, I'm really proud of the way you're with your little brother." Adam squeezed the boy for a moment, but there wasn't time for more as they had gotten where they had to be. "Oh wow, Ford," Adam was speechless for a moment.

"You didn't tell us this!" Brian picked up the golden cup standing next to the green house.

"You won first place?" Crane asked softly and Ford nodded, blushing.

"He did!" Guthrie cheered. "That's why he's going to the regional fair. Bet he'll win first place there too."

"I doubt it, Guth," Ford shook his head, "Do you know how many kids are there? How many projects? But I'm really pleased that I get to go."

"It's good to be realistic," Adam nodded, "But I'd say you do have a good chance. This was really a great idea, you know. And you built that thing alone, including the entire irrigation system."

"Crane helped," Ford wasn't willing to take all the credit.

Crane snorted, "I explained some theory to you."

"You were the teacher in this," Brian agreed, "But after you explained it all, you just encouraged Ford to go for it."

"He's right, Ford," Crane hugged his little brother, "I only taught you how it worked and answered questions when you had them. That's what teachers do. You did it all by yourself."

Guthrie gave Ford a push, "You sound just like me about Adam's help."

Brian laughed, "He does, doesn't he? You boys are crazy. You both did well, enjoy the praise."

"When someone pays you a compliment, say thank you and be happy," Crane repeated something he'd heard quite a few times growing up.

"I am happy," Ford's face beamed, "And you're here to see it. I hoped you'd be proud."

"Oh I am, buddy," Crane lifted Ford off the floor, not caring one bit about cool reputations and all, "I'm bursting with pride. You took what I taught you and ran with it!"

"Maybe we should have kept your projects for last," Adam mused.

"How come?"

"Well, Guth," Adam kept a serious face, "After these two, the rest is going to look like amateurs made them."

"Well, I guess we have to be polite and look at them anyway," Brian made it sound like it was a real chore and the two younger boys couldn't help their faces heating up.

While the five of them walked through the exhibition, over in Angel Camp at the Bret Harte High School preparations for that night's show were in full swing. Having chosen a theme for the show meant there were also costumes and dances, and at this time the school was buzzing with activities and sounds. Students in charge with costumes were making final alterations and adjustments. One of the dancers had fallen into the saloon doors and one of them had come off its hinges, so that had to be fixed while the dancer in question had a scraped arm tended to. Kids were doing vocal exercises, warming up and going over lyrics and dance moves. There were sound checks going on and the musicians were tuning their instruments. Kids were placing programs on the seats that had been set up in the auditorium. It was a cacophony of sounds.

When a few of the seniors stepped on stage it was no surprise to most present that they used Stayin' Alive for their sound check. Mr. Saunders, the music teacher, a man in his early fifties, was getting a bit fed up with the song, but told himself kids would be kids. Back in his day, his parents had hated jazz music with a passion. And he had to admit that these Bee Gees would have fitted right in with the Doo Wop music he had liked over twenty years ago, at least vocal-wise. The beat was a totally different matter. Not to mention the lyrics! They had definitely changed tone too. If his parents could hear these he was sure jazz would sound much more wholesome all of a sudden.

Before he was able to do anything about it, the band was on stage as well, to accompany the singers and all the kids in the room were doing those famous disco moves and singing along with the seniors on stage. Poor Mr. Saunders could only lean back and wait until it was all over. He was looking forward to hearing the choir sing Händel's Hallelujah from the Messiah with the full orchestra. It was a long four minutes for the man, but thankfully they came to an end and that was the end of sound checks for the soloists. As the three seniors vacated the stage the choir and orchestra took up their places, filling the stage completely and Mr. Saunders stood up to direct.

"Hey," One of the seniors, Patrick, had a look on his face that told his friends he was up to something, "I've got an idea." It didn't take long for him to convince them and minutes later the word was quickly, yet secretly, spreading amongst the students involved in the popular part of the show.