LOST AND FOUND - PART 6

ANOTHER SON

Chapter 53

Ben, Joe, and Adam left the office quietly, leaving by the door that led to the sitting room and when they entered Marie looked up expectantly. She had quietly slipped into the room from the tower office when the ruckus had started to take charge of the children. Adam knew this and smiled at her gratefully as he sat down in his usual chair. Annalise was there in seconds and hopped up into his lap. Alex was lying on the floor, buried under his three younger brothers who had nodded off, not in the least bit concerned about the noise. The babies were used to it.

"Who is that man, Pa?" Annalise asked, having caught a glimpse of him through the door when the three men had come in. She had noticed he had his arms around her mother and that bothered her.

"Well, it seems he's your mother's brother."

The little girl's brow furrowed. "But how can he be Ma's brother when she didn't even know him?"

"He had a different mother."

"Oh...just like you and Uncle Hoss, and Uncle Joe."

"Right."

Having had her curiosity satisfied, the little girl just snuggled up against her father and relaxed, prepared to listen to the adult's conversation. She knew her father didn't like it when they interrupted too much.

"And not only that," Joe said with a laugh, "it turns out he's my cousin too."

"An unexpected and strange turn of events," Adam said then leaned down to explain Joe's comment to his daughter before she started asking questions again. Then when they heard Thea's joyful laugh coming from the other room they all smiled, especially Ben who seemed extremely pleased for his daughter-in-law.

"What do you think, Pa?" Adam asked his father.

"By all appearances, I think Ted is going to be an extremely interesting addition to this family," Ben laughed. "And I have to add that there never seems to be a lack of entertainment in this house."

Adam shook his head, "I believe I once told Dylan my house has been in a state of barely controlled insanity ever since we moved here and I can't exactly explain why."

"People," his father answered.

"People?"

Ben shook his head, "You can't have a house this full of people and not have mayhem break out occasionally."

"I have to agree with your father's hypothesis Adam," Ted said. No one had heard the door open or noticed Ted and Thea coming in. "Especially considerin' the caliber of people you have gathered around you. Remember, it's a fine line between brilliance and insanity."

Thea laughed at her brother's joking and moved forward to pick up Thomas then placed him in Joe's arms. Benjamin was given to his grandfather and both babies continued to sleep. Matthew, however, woke up as soon as she touched him, and he was not in a good mood. When he heard Matthew's fitful cry Ted came to put a hand on the baby's back.

"May I?" he said and Thea gladly handed the child over. Ted looked down into Matthew's face and the boy stared back with angry eyes at this stranger then scrunched his face up, ready to start screaming. But Ted merely raised the baby to his shoulder and began to hum in his ear. Everyone else watched closely to see what would happen.

Matthew let loose one short, half-hearted cry of ill temper, and then tiredly laid his head down on Ted's shoulder. The man just continued to hum and rubbed the baby's back. In a few minutes Matthew was asleep again. He smiled quietly saying, "I've worked a lot of children's wards in hospitals. That usually works for me for some reason."

Alexander had gotten to his feet and looked up at the tall man with wide eyes. "Wow," was all the boy could manage to say. Adam laughed.

"Not only have you done the impossible by getting Matthew to settle down, you've also rendered Alexander almost speechless!"

Everyone laughed again except Ted; he was still humming softly into Matthew's ear.

Thea motioned for her brother to take a seat on the sofa next to Joe then seated herself on his other side. She beckoned Alexander to come to her and the child hurried over, still staring at Ted as she lifted him into her lap.

"Are you my uncle?" Alex asked as his mother smoothed his unruly hair back from his forehead. Ted turned his head to look at Thea.

"I don't know, am I? Pinkerton never said a word about you and Adam havin' children."

Thea smiled and hugged her son tighter, making him giggle as Adam answered the question.

"Yes, you are."

"All five are yours?" Ted asked giving him an incredulous stare.

"Yes."

"A set of twins and a set of triplets?"

Adam was chuckling now. "Obviously."

"Do you have any idea what the odds are against that?" Ted was trying to keep his voice low so he wouldn't disturb Matthew.

"Yes, I do," Adam was openly laughing at his new brother-in-law now. "You are holding Matthew, Thea has Alexander, my father has Benjamin, Joe has Thomas, and this beautiful child in MY lap is Annalise."

"Pa!" Annalise protested then ducked her head in embarrassment as her face turned bright red. Her father just shook his head at her shyness and gave her a quick squeeze.

Ted was grinning hugely as he looked from child to child and when he turned his head to look at Alexander he opened his mouth, but then seemed to change his mind because he didn't speak.

"What is it Ted? You're a member of this family so you can say whatever you want. Everybody else certainly does."

The man's expression turned serious. "Well, I was just thinkin' that this mornin' I had no family whatsoever, and now..."

Adam was nodding. "I think I felt something similar when Joe found me in San Francisco and I recovered my memories."

Ted started to nod too, in agreement when Annalise spoke up. "Uncle Ted? There's something moving in there," she pointed toward the bag he had carried in from the tower office.

"Uh oh, I guess that means Fred finally woke up," Ted answered her then looked at Matthew, not sure of what to do with him.

"I'll take him," Marie said quietly from her chair in the far corner. The young man looked startled for a moment - he had forgotten she was there. But he stood and quickly walked over to her before she had a chance to stand herself. He carefully handed the baby over and gave her a grateful smile saying, "Thank you very much, ma'am," then turned to walk quickly back. He went down on one knee next to the bag and rested his right hand on the edge of the opening.

"Come on out Fred. No one's goin' to hurt you."

They all heard a faint rustling sound coming from the bag and a small, triangular black head popped up over the edge then disappeared again when a giggle escaped Annalise. She clapped a hand over her mouth when Ted turned his head to smile at her then put a finger to his lips. "Shhhh, Fred is very, very shy at first."

"Come on boy, come on out," he said and the head slowly reappeared. The tiny dog looked around cautiously then his mouth opened and long pink tongue lolled out of his mouth as he slowly placed two white front paws on Ted's hand and grinned up at the man. Ted patted his shoulder and Fred quickly hopped out of the bag and streaked up the man's arm to settle himself there.

"What the hell is that?" Adam said trying to hold his laughter back.

"Fred is a dog."

"Are you sure? Are you sure he isn't really just a big rat that thinks he's a dog?"

Ted started laughing himself as he nodded. "Fred, they don't believe you're a dog, so work with me boy - at least bark." He snapped his fingers saying, "Speak Fred. Come on, speak." Fred let out a sharp little yap that startled Balor and Minnie. Both of the huge dogs stood and came over.

"Don't worry Ted, they won't hurt him," Adam was quick to assure his wife's brother. Balor gave the tiny creature a quick sniff then Minnie pushed forward to do the same. The two dogs looked at each other and seemed to be exchanging amused glances until their master spoke, "Minnie, Balor, go lay down," he instructed them and they both moved away. But they chose to lie down next to each other while being sure to keep facing the man who was still kneeling on the floor.

"I think he's cute!" Annalise said as she slid out of her father's lap and came over to get a closer look. "Pa, he's cross-eyed!" she said in disbelief then started to reach toward Fred, but then stopped. She had been taught by her father to never touch a dog she didn't know.

"It's alright, he won't hurt you," Ted answered her questioning look and the little girl carefully reached out to scratch the little dog behind his triangular ears. Fred's eyes closed and he collapsed, draping himself over Ted's shoulder as he made little grunting noises and his long, thin tail whipped around. Annalise laughed as she continued to scratch. Then Alexander came to get a closer look too.

He started to stroke the little dog's short, sleek black fur and both children were startled when the dog suddenly turned to drape himself over Ted's shoulder on his back. They both giggled and scratched Fred's bare pink belly as his tail continued to wildly wag. The dog grinned with half-closed eyes, let his tongue loll out of his mouth from the side, and waved his white paws around in ecstasy.

The adults couldn't help but laugh at the little dog's antics and the children were delighted. Balor and Minnie were good dogs, but rarely had the chance to play - they were on duty most of the time.

"Would you like to see Fred do a trick?" Ted asked the two children. They nodded vigorously. "Alright, step back then," he instructed them and the two quickly did so. He put his hand on the floor saying, "Down Fred," and the little dog quickly scampered down his arm then sat down facing his master.

"Say 'hello' Fred." The little dog shifted his front feet and seemed to be trying, but couldn't quite get it out. "Come on, Fred, say 'hello' to these nice people."

The dog shifted his feet again then pointed his sharp muzzle toward the ceiling as he howled, "Reh-roooh!" The adults were laughing helplessly at that point while the children applauded and the other two dogs stared.

Ted snapped his fingers and the dog looked at him expectantly again. "Fred," he said then pointed at him with his index finger and the thumb up. "Put 'em up, buster," he continued and the little dog sat up and raised his front paws over his head as he stared intently back. "Bang!" Ted said and the dog threw himself onto his back with all four paws sticking up and his tongue lolling out on the floor. Everyone, even Ben, was howling at this point when Ted told Fred to take a bow.

Fred stretched his front paws out and lowered his head while his rump stuck up in the air. His tail continued to wave back and forth as he grinned at their laughter. Then he startled everyone by suddenly turning around, streaking across the floor, and jumping into Adam's lap.

Adam merely picked Fred up with one large hand and held him so they were nose to nose. "I am STILL not convinced you're really a dog," he said calmly then set him on his shoulder. Fred promptly curled up, gave a huge yawn, and then went to sleep.

Thea was gasping for breath and couldn't help letting out one more laugh when she saw Ted's surprised expression. "Dogs love Adam," she said to her brother in explanation and stood to start gathering up children. Marie came to help and as the two women and the twins left to take the babies upstairs they were still breaking out in short bursts of mirth. Minnie and Balor followed them closely.

Ted stayed where he was as he watched them go then he stood to take his seat next to Joe again. He stared at Fred sleeping on Adam's shoulder and shook his head.

"Fred has never done that with anyone before."

"Well, dogs are supposed to good judges of character," Ben offered.

Joe nudged Ted with his elbow. "But there's always at least one exception to every rule," he said while grinning at his older brother. Adam grinned back.

"Touché Joe. So you still remember that." Joe just continued to grin as his answer then they all turned to look at Ben when he started chuckling.

"Adam," he said with a big smile, "have you realized yet that this lets Alexander off the hook?"

"No I didn't, but I do now!" He gave what could only be described as an evil chuckle and said, "Welcome to the family Ted. We are doubly pleased to see you!"

Joe glanced back and forth between his brother and father. "I don't get it."

Adam was still chuckling. "Ted is Sir Richard's legitimate son which takes precedence over a grandson."

"Oh..." Joe said as the light dawned and he bit his lip to keep from laughing at Ted's horrified expression.

"Dear God no! I don't want anythin' from that man!"

"Sorry Ted, but those are the laws of entailment. The estate is now yours to do what you will with - barring sale or destruction of course."

"You mean I can't blow the place up, have the stones thrown into the sea, and sow the cursed place with salt?"

"I believe that would come under the heading of 'destruction'," Adam joked, quite pleased that he wouldn't have to deal with the management of the estate anymore.

"Damn," Ted said in a decidedly unhappy voice.

"But you could do other things with it that would make that man spin in his grave," Joe said, amused by the possibilities.

"Like what?" Ted looked at him hopefully.

"How about a wax museum? I hear they're all the rage in Europe right now."

Ted grinned while Adam raised his eyes to heaven and Ben shook his head.

"Oh!" Joe continued, "you could offer the estate as winter quarters for a traveling circus!"

Laughing, Ted nodded his head. "I like the way you think cousin."

"Or you could let all the tenant farmers and their families live in the manor house."

Adam joined in, "Now THAT would definitely annoy him."

"But we want to do more than just annoy him." Joe said as he continued to think. Then he laughed announcing, "I've got it - the perfect thing. Open up a reformatory for ladies of the evening!"

Ted and Ben just stared at Joe incredulous for a few moments until Adam spoke.

"Yeah," he said sarcastically, "and you could call it 'Bangtail House'."

That broke the other three men up and they were still howling with laughter when Thea returned.

"What's so funny?" she asked as she came into the room.

"Nothing dear," Adam said in a choked voice as Ben, Joe, and Ted tried to contain themselves.

"Hmmm..." she gave her husband a suspicious as he turned his head away and raised a hand to hide his smile. Thea must have decided the question was not worth pursuing because she turned to Ted and Joe then.

"Joe, I want you and Ted to go over to the hotel and bring back his luggage, he'll be staying here now."

Ted looked up at her in surprise and opened his mouth, but was interrupted by Adam.

"Ted, do us all a favor and just say 'Yes ma'am.'"

"Yes ma'am!" he quickly responded with his quirky grin and the two men stood to hurry out. Then the three still in the sitting room could hear muffled laughter as Ted and Joe went out the front door.

Thea was smiling a very pleased smile when she turned back to her husband and father-in-law. "Now if you gentlemen will excuse me, I think I better get dinner started. It's almost four o'clock." She started for the door then paused to give her husband a quick, disgusted glance. "Bangtail House," she said and rolled her eyes. "I can't believe you said that," she finished with as she left the room.

Adam winced, closed his eyes, and shook his head as his father chuckled saying, "I can't believe you said that either."

"I swear to you Pa, I have no idea what possessed me to. And I also swear that woman could hear through solid rock."

Ben didn't even try to hide his amusement at his eldest son's embarrassment. "It's that special hearing ability that most mother's develop. But husband's get caught by it too." He was smiling a very wide smile when Adam gave him a dark look.

"You're having a really good time today, aren't you?"

His father just chuckled as his answer.

Adam opened his mouth to continue the conversation when they heard a knock at the front door.

"I'll get it!" Thea yelled from the kitchen doorway, but when Adam shouted back, "NO YOU WON'T!" she just giggled and went back to what she had been doing.

He plucked Fred off his shoulder and realized he didn't quite know what to do with him until his father said, "Give him to me, I want to get a closer look at that thing." Adam handed the little dog over and Fred's eyes opened for a second when Ben was holding him in both hands.

As Adam left the room he heard his father chuckle again saying, "Annalise is right, this dog IS cross-eyed." He shook his head as he hurried down the hallway to the front door. Recognizing the silhouette of the person through the frosted glass he quickly opened the inner and screen doors.

"Stu! What brings you to town?" he said as he waved the young man in. Stu's dusky complexion flushed slightly red as it always did when Adam gave him his usual enthusiastic welcome.

"Just finished a job down Unionville way and thought I'd stop and see how you all were doing." His shy smile was reflected in his light brown eyes. Realizing he was inside he quickly took his hat off and his deeply wavy dark brown hair seemed to spring to life right before Adam's eyes. He smiled as a lock fell across Stu's forehead and the man shoved it impatiently back.

"Stu!" Thea's voice came to them from the kitchen doorway and she practically ran down the hallway to give him a tight hug. The thin young man flushed an even deeper red, but his smile grew as he carefully and gently hugged her back.

"Dear Lord, you're practically skin and bone!" Thea exclaimed. "I can almost count your ribs," she continued as she took him by the hand and started dragging him toward the kitchen. He glanced back to give Adam a resigned smile and a nod, meaning they would have to talk later.

Thea paused halfway down the hall. "Marie! Alexander! Annalise! Stu is here!" she yelled up the stairs and they heard the sounds of doors opening and closing then feet hurrying. She continued to drag the now laughing young man toward the kitchen.

Adam smiled an extremely pleased smile as he slowly made his way back toward the sitting room. He could always depend on Thea being hospitable to whoever showed up at their door. There seemed to be no limit to the fountain of affection flowing from her heart and in all the years they had been together he had never once seen her overwhelmed by a crowd of people. As he was about to turn in at the sitting room door he stopped as he suddenly realized he preferred his house to be full and was a little shocked by that thought. But then he smiled and tucked that revelation away to be examined more thoroughly later.

Ben had Fred in his lap and was absently running a hand down the little dog's back - he seemed to thinking deeply about something. But he looked up when Adam came to sit in the rocking chair next to him.

"Who was that?" he asked and continued to pet the small creature.

"Stu Clayton. He's someone I've hired frequently over the years to do jobs for me. I guess technically I'd have to call him a hired gun, but he's no killer. Stu only uses his gun when necessary. But he's the fastest draw I've ever seen."

Ben's brow furrowed at the term "hired gun" but as usual accepted his son's estimation of the man's character.

"So what were you thinking about? Is there a problem I can help you with?"

"Oh no, no. I was just thinking about how much things have changed."

"Changed how?"

"For the better, of course. You know that. Once I realized you HAD to do something more with your life than just work the ranch everything seemed to naturally fall into place. For the longest time it was just the four of us and I despaired of that ever changing. Then you came home and everything just exploded. This family is growing by leaps and bounds all because of you and I could not be more pleased. With Theadora and the children at first then Dora, and now Ted." Ben paused to chuckle; "I'm even starting to think of your deputies as family members now."

Adam smiled as he looked down, surprised that he was almost embarrassed, but shrugged that feeling off.

"I'm glad you feel that way Pa, and you've just given me the perfect opportunity to discuss a few things with you I've been meaning to for some time."

"Oh no, don't tell me you're leaving."

Adam was genuinely shocked. "No! We're home and we're home to stay. We are NOT going anywhere."

"Good," his father sighed in relief.

The two men exchanged smiles then Adam's expression turned serious. "The first thing I wanted to tell you is now that this region has been officially assigned to my office I will be hiring a few more deputies. And we will be starting to make periodic riding inspections of the entire area. What that means to you, Hoss, and Joe, as the owners of the largest privately owned tract of land, is that you will receive our services for free. We will be patrolling both the borders and the interior of the Ponderosa and what was the King spread. This also means you three and the ranch hands won't need to ride fence anymore. We will be surveying that for you."

His father was looking at him in surprise as Adam continued. "Of course we will be patrolling all the other areas as well, but the people I will be hiring will be doing that almost exclusively."

"I've never heard of that before," Ben finally said.

"I know. This is something I've been thinking about for a while and discussing with my men. Remember, I've been given a free hand and I think this will prove to be necessary for us to ensure the safety of all residents. We have to know what's going on in the entire region."

"That makes sense."

"I thought so, and that brings me to the second topic. I received a letter from Will a few weeks ago. Things are not going very well for him and it seems to me that Laura's aunt's interference in their marriage is the problem now and has been from the beginning. Will thinks so too and is considering moving here. He's looking for work and is very interested in joining my office as one of the new deputies. What do you think? I won't hire him if you can use him to work the ranch."

Ben thought about that for a moment. "Frankly, I would rather not have a distant family member as an employee. In my experience that sort of thing just does not work out very well. But if YOU hire him he will really be working for the federal government, not you."

"That's just what I was thinking. Good, that takes care of that problem." He paused to raise his arms over his head and stretched. "Now, when I took this director's position it was with the understanding that I would be dividing my time between the office and my other business interests. This includes taking over the book keeping for the ranch and the annex. Thea and I are a well-trained team doing that now and it takes half the time it normally would."

"The annex?"

"I'm sorry, I picked up that term from Thea. That's what she calls the new land. She figures that's what it is since it adjoins the Ponderosa and is a little less than about a third in size when you compare the two."

"I like that. We'll have to clear it with Hoss and Joe, but I think that's the perfect name. We can't keep calling it the King spread."

"I'm sure they'll agree." He leaned back in his chair and began to rock. "So, getting back to dividing my time, I will also be available to come out and help during busy times, or when you're short handed. Nate, Jon, Mike, and Dylan are also willing to help if you should ever need them. They all have experience." He chuckled, "And some day I think you will have four grandsons to help work the place, hopefully with their cousins. Which brings me to the last topic for our little talk." He glanced at his father's expression and chuckled. "So you noticed too."

Ben just grinned and nodded his head. "Looks to me like Annalise and the boys will be getting a cousin soon"

"Hoss has no idea, does he?"

"No, I think he still can't believe he's married."

"Or perhaps is still in shock?" The two men grinned at each other.

"I wonder why she hasn't said anything to him? Or do you think she doesn't know either?" Ben mused.

"I'm sure she knows and I have a pretty good idea why she hasn't said anything. So I'll have to have a little talk with her mentor. Dora needs to tell him even though I'm sure Thea is right and Hoss will be hysterical for a while. But he'll settle down eventually." He paused to yawn. "Sorry Pa, Thea's been waking me up even earlier than usual lately. She's been fighting off some sort of stomach illness." He yawned once more. "And I'm also sorry that it looks like YOUR house will be in a state of barely controlled insanity for a while."

"Oh well, these things happen" his father answered. They exchanged amused looks and couldn't help but start laughing again at the mental picture of how Hoss was going to react. Then they both looked up when they heard Joe and Ted return. Adam stood.

"I guess I better show Ted to his room, I'm sure Thea has her hands full in the kitchen," he gave his father one more smile then hurried out.

Ben just sat there quietly, still petting Fred. When he saw the three men go past the door and up the stairs he smiled a huge smile and his eyes began to sparkle with happiness.

"Well Fred," he said softly and the little dog opened his eyes. "Your master's sister was right. All I had to do was step back and be patient. She said he would come around eventually. Somtimes that woman is so smart it's frightening."

Fred sat up, let out an enormous yawn then made what sounded like a low growl of agreement as he grinned up into Ben's amused face. Chuckling softly he scooped the dog up, stood, and started for the kitchen to try and have a few words in private with his daughter-in-law.