Okay, to get some pace into this story again, I decided to skip ahead a little bit. Hope you enjoy!

Yeah, this is about a month later… Ma Dalton's planned family reunion.

Nick looked over at Anna with a bright smile on his face, "You ready for this?"

"Meeting your family? Sure!" she laughed, "You sure YOU are ready?"

Nick bit his lower lip looking at the old house. He nodded. "If you promise not to get scared away by the bunch you're about to meet."

Anna shook her head, "If they're your family, then they are probably just fine."

Nick scrounged up his nose, chuckling. "Well, my brother might be a bit much sometimes. And a few of my nieces and nephews will probably be a little high on sugar…"

Anna giggled and looked at the other parked cars. "Can't be that bad, you met my family… You survived…"

Nick chortled, "Barely…"

Anna shook her head, trying not to let her laughter take control over her. "Okay, that was a bit crazy. Uncle Roy and uncle Jesse never learn… They start talking sports and things just escalate…"

Nick nodded. "It was fun though…"

Anna nodded.

"We should go find the others, they are probably in the back…" Nick shrugged as he unbuckled his belt, before taking the time to lean over and place a kiss on Anna's cheek.

She nodded as she blushed, then she unbuckled her own seatbelt and slipped out from the SUV.

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Nick had his arm around Anna's shoulders as they rounded the corner of the house. He saw the grill was lit and a few of his sisters were busy setting salads and other things on the long outdoor table that had been in the yard since he was a kid. (Okay, it might have been changed out a time or two. But it was the same handcrafted style as back in the 70s.)

He smiled as he saw his mom coming out from the house, a basket full of biscuits in her hands. He couldn't wait to eat himself almost sick on those.

He laughed as he realized who was manning the grill. The stocky figure was easily recognizable, but there were more silver in his hair than what Nick remembered.

"Come over here with me, you must meet this guy!" Nick whispered to Anna, guiding her after himself.

"Hey Boxer…" Nick grinned a couple of feet behind the shorter man.

Boxer turned on his heel, quickly looking the other Texan up and down before spreading his arms open wide. "Nicky! It's been too damn long!"

Nick nodded as they wrapped each other in that classic bro-hug. Then they pushed each other out on an arm-length's distance, studying each other.

"You got bigger…" Boxer teased tapping the back of his hand against Nick's midriff. A Cheshire grin over white teeth.

"And you got uglier…" Nick chuckled, wiping moisture away from his eyes.

Boxer laughed, "What? I thought I was starting to look better…"

"Nah, that's your eyesight going bad…" Nick shook his head, "'Bout time to start with glasses you know!"

"And here I thought all these fine lines I had collected was starting to erase themselves…" Boxer chuckled.

"Man, it's good to see ya!"

"You too brother…" Boxer agreed.

"Speaking of brother, have you seen the third musketeer?"

Boxer nodded, "Yeah, he was gettin' ready when I left. He's staying at my place. Too many little ones running around here y'know…"

Nick nodded.

"And you must be Anna?" Boxer leaned sideways to get a better view of Nick's fiancée.

The tall blonde smiled and nodded at Boxer, "Yeah, I am! You're not his twin, I assume…"

Boxer chuckled, "No, I'm not… I'm Claude Boxer, just call me Boxer, or Box… Jack he's comin' in a bit. Just had to get ready…"

"Nice to meet you Boxer…" she grinned back, shaking the man's hand. Her hand drowned in his.

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"Are you sure I look good enough?" Michelle asked, as she zipped up her dress. It was the fourth one she had tried on.

"Yes honey!" Jack chuckled, "This one and the three other ones. You look fantastic! But trust me, you could show up in your bar attire and you would blend in just as well…"

"Am I going to be overdressed?"

Jack shrugged, "It's not too over the top. You could definitely walk around in town, broad daylight with that thing and people wouldn't bat an eye… I think we're good."

"Are anyone else going to be wearing a dress?"

Jack threw his hands up, an apologetic expression on his face, "I don't know, how should I know?"

Michelle chuckled, then she shook her head. "I don't know… Maybe because you've been at family reunions with your family before?"

Jack shrugged, "Most times it's just been us… Just the family, sisters, mama, Nick and me… No reason to get dressed up… I think Ma even got surprised if I bothered to put on a clean t-shirt…"

Michelle chuckled, "Okay, so this dress is okay?"

Jack nodded, "It's perfect… -Just like you!"

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"Awww… Look at the two of you!" Caroline beamed as Jack and Michelle finally made it to the party. She hugged them both in turn before she stepped back and admired them, "Michelle, that dress is just lovely! Is it new?"

Michelle shook her head, "No, it's a couple of years old. But I love the cut, makes me seem a bit taller, you know…"

Caroline nodded, "Yeah, in fact. It does…"

"Funny thing is, she doesn't realize that she's absolutely perfect just as she is…" Jack winked at his mom, "She doesn't need to look any taller, or shorter for that matter…"

Michelle grinned up at Jack who placed an arm around her shoulders.

"You're perfect…" she whispered.

Caroline grinned, she loved seeing her boy all in love. The real kind of love, the kind that mattered.

"And you Whiskey, you've found some pretty nice clothes too!" Caroline smiled, touching the fabric of his shirt.

"She picked it out," he nodded towards Michelle, then he held up his right hand, it was still encased by fiberglass "She might have helped me button it up too…"

Caroline nodded, and took a closer look at the cast. "How is your hand by the way?"

Jack shrugged, "Feels fine, but it's immobilized so I don't really know. Might be very sore after I get the cast off next week…"

Caroline nodded.

Michelle wrapped her arms around Jack's waist, "Will be good to get that clumpy thing off, huh?"

Jack nodded, "Always is…"

The three of them stood and looked at each other for a little while. Jack was happy to be with the woman he loved, and back home at his ma's place. Michelle was happy to be with Jack. Caroline was happy to have her son home, and as an added bonus he had a beautiful girl with him.

"Well, come on! The rest of the folks are waiting out back!" Caroline smiled.

Okay, due to the fact that I actually have a little over a week's worth of vacation starting about now, I figured I needed to part the family reunion into different chapters. Chapters might come out a little sporadic over the next couple of weeks.