"Chaela?" Sully called.

Church was over and Michaela had returned home with Sully and Katie. It took her an hour to get her daughter calmed down and now Katie was resting comfortably in her bedroom upstairs.

Sully decided it was best for him to cook supper tonight. It was a task that he did more often now that he was retired and the ladies of the house worked full time outside the home. He didn't mind, he enjoyed cooking for his family. The more he cooked, the more creative he got with his meals. The more risks he was willing to take with confidence. He stuffed three small chickens and spiced them with salt and pepper. Then he used parsley, thyme, rosemary, garlic and shallots that grew in their garden and flavored the chickens even more. He mashed some potatoes, boiled some corn and made a salad of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and carrots that all came from their garden.

Michaela had been sitting on their relatively new white settee that matched the white wingback chairs that had been in their home since they were first married. They had purchased the new piece of furniture almost five years ago now. She was staring off into space when Sully called her name.

"Hmm? What?" she asked, slightly startled.

"Whatcha thinkin' about?" he questioned as he tossed his salad.

Michaela got up from her spot and began to set the table, "Dinner smells delicious. I can't wait to taste it."

"Thank you," he said with a smile. He knew her pallet well enough by now that he could make a safe bet that she would love their dinner tonight. However, he wouldn't allow that to distract him from what he wanted to know, "But you didn't answer my question."

"What question?" asked Michaela.

Sully knew she didn't want to answer him and let out a dry chuckle, "What were ya thinkin' about?"

"Nothing," she fibbed, trying to avoid the issue. She set out three place settings on their dining room table. She put Sully at the head of the table and placed herself and Katie on either side of him. She set out their cloth place mats, glasses and silverware. Then she traveled to the China cabinet to retrieve their plates.

"Chaela," he warned, "You've been my wife for twenty-five years. I know my wife well enough to know when she's happy or sad or angry or excited, or…," Sully let out a sigh, "I know you're frettin' about somethin'. I can live it if ya don't wanna talk about it now, but don't tell me a lie, even if it's a small white lie."

"I'm sorry, Darling," Michaela said truthfully. She set out the dinner plates she had been holding and came up behind Sully. She wrapped her arms around his waist from behind and rested her head on his shoulder blade, "You don't want to know what I was thinking of."

"Tell me," he said softly.

"Okay," she sighed, "Okay. I can't stop thinking of that new family that we saw at church."

"The Nelsons? Why?" Sully inquired.

"They're from San Francisco," she answered, "He worked at the docks. Their child looks nothing like them and looks exactly like Rose."

"Michaela," Sully said exhaling loudly. He turned around in her arms and held her tight to his chest, "Katie is goin' mad. Even though she is hidin' it better and she works all the time, her emotions are just under the surface. Anything can make them bubble up. We saw that today. We have to stay strong to keep her sane."

"I know, Sully, but what about-" she began to say.

"Don't, Honey," Sully said and then lowered his voice. He put his mouth next to his wife's ear and whispered, "Don't do this to yourself and don't let Katie hear ya. San Francisco is a big city. Lotsa people live there. Lotsa people work at the docks."

"But," she began to say, but stopped until Sully lowered his head so she could whisper in his ear, "The little girl's appearance..."

"Honey, lotsa little girls have blonde hair and blue eyes," Sully said softly in her ear, "We don't even know if our Rose is still livin'."

"We don't know if she's dead either," Michaela argued. The couple went back and forth whispering their arguments in each other's ear to prevent Katie from possibly over hearing them.

"No we don't," Sully agreed, "If she's still livin', we don't know what she looks like. Even if she looks the same as she did when she was a baby, I still say there are tons of little girls that have blonde hair and blue eyes."

"Most little girls with blonde hair and blue don't have fathers with such dark, dominant features," said Michaela, "That little girl has straight hair. Her mother has the dominant trait of curly hair, and she had a mop of red curly hair on top of her head."

"That don't prove that they ain't the parents," Sully said, "Kids don't always hafta look like their parents."

"Everyone in town knows that Katie's our daughter just by her looks," Michaela argued, "They've always said that she has my smile and your eyes, even though her irises are brown, not blue."

"True, but Honey, what do they say about Matthew, Colleen and Brian?" He questioned, "Everyone in town knows they belong to us too, but they don't say they look like us 'cause they're adopted. How do ya know this little girl isn't adopted? If she is adopted, we can't just assume she's Rose."

Michaela knew her husband was right and started to cry into his chest, "Oh, Darling," she whimpered softly.

"Shh," Sully said feeling her hot tears seeping through his shirt, "I want her back too. I want her safe and at home with us. We can't go down this road. We don't even know these people."

"I can befriend them," Michaela suggested, liking the idea already.

"How would that work?" Sully asked, hating the idea already, "What are ya gonna say? Can ya please be my friend because I think ya stole my granddaughter and I wanna prove it?"

"Of course not," she answered, "At least if I get to know them, I could put this nagging feeling that the little girl is Rose out of my mind."

"Alright, fine," Sully stated, knowing she wasn't going to give this up and there was no convincing her to, "But don't say none of this to Katie."

"Fine," Michaela reluctantly agreed.

The next morning, Michaela went to work, but Katie decided to take a day off. She didn't want to go anywhere, she just wanted to stay in bed and not think. Michaela took the liberty to ask Teresa Slicker if she could sub for Katie at school today. Teresa gladly accepted.

It was 10:30 in the morning. Sully had already had breakfast, completed the morning chores, and been to town to see if he had any tourists signed up to take his class. When he found that his list was blank, he returned home. Seeing no sign that his daughter had left her room yet, he headed upstairs and opened the door to her room.

"Rise and shine, Kates," he said loudly.

"Can't you knock, Pa?" she complained and put a pillow over her face.

"If I'd knocked, you'd never answer," the worried father said, "Now it's time to get up and face the day!"

Katie had taken over Brian's old room and there was a large window right by her bed. Sully travelled to the window and opened the shades as far as they would go to let in the light. Then he opened the window and let in fresh air.

Katie groaned from under her pillow.

Sully pulled the covers off her, and then he took all of her pillows, including the one over her face and threw them on the floor.

Katie stubbornly rolled into a ball.

"Come on," Sully said, "It's time to have some breakfast. Well… Brunch, you've slept the morning away."

When he received no response from his daughter, he put both hands on her mattress and proceeded to shake and bounce the mattress several times.

"Go away, you old fool!" Katie shouted rudely.

"Don't you talk to me like that, Little Girl! I'm still your father, no matter how old you are! NOW GET UP!" He insisted and when that didn't work he walked out of her room.

Katie considered it to be a victory until…

Sully returned a few minutes later and dumped a bucket of cold water over her head, then shouted, "Get her Winnie!"

Katie screamed in shock after being doused with cold water. She continued to scream when a forty pound ball of white fur jumped on her bed and started licking her face.

"Get out of my face!" She whined, "Stupid dog!"

Sully stood in the corner watching the scene, laughing loudly.

"ALRIGHT!" Katie yelled, "I'm coming!"

"Come on, Girl!" Sully called the dog and snapped. The dog hopped off the bed and stopped. She jumped up and balanced on her hind legs and placed her front paws on Sully's belly. He patted her head and said, "That's a good girl!"

After being praised by her master, Winnie trotted downstairs.

About fifteen minutes later, Katie came downstairs fully dressed. Her hair was still wet so she brushed it and pulled it into a side braid.

"Have a seat, Beautiful," Sully said and pulled out her chair. He gave her a meatloaf sandwich that he had bought from Grace's when he went out earlier in the day.

"Thank you, Pa," She said, "I'm sorry for my rude behavior this morning."

"You're forgiven," Sully said, pouring his daughter a glass of lemonade.

Katie took a bite of her sandwich and put the rest of it down, "Oh, Papa… I don't know what to do."

Sully found a soft handkerchief and wiped the tears that were beginning to fall from his daughter's eyes.

"I'm not gonna let ya curl up and die, Katherine Elizabeth," Sully said, continuing to pat her face, "You can't do anything for Finn and Rose right now except pray. You're not dead, and like it or not, you're gonna join the livin'."

Winnie started whining and put her front paws up on Katie's lap. Katie fluffed her fur and whispered, "Traitor mutt!"

"She's no traitor," Sully teased, "she did exactly what I wanted her to do."

Katie laughed, "We should've never got her for you."

Winnie hopped off of Katie's lap and went to go lay down in the living room.

Their beloved Wolf passed on when Katie was eight-years-old. Sully found a similar wolf puppy in the woods and adopted it, naming him Wolf Jr., a few months later. The family lovingly called him just Junior. He wasn't as smart as Wolf, according to Sully, but he was a sweet and faithful companion that Sully kept with him through his retirement. When he passed, the family mourned him like they did their old faithful Wolf.

After Junior passed, Sully didn't know where to find another pup like him. Michaela knew her husband had to have some kind of dog in his life and thought of getting him a puppy of a different breed. She thought that some kind of Border Collie or English Shepherd puppy might be a suitable pet for her husband. Katie disagreed believing her father needed another wolf.

Brain considered getting Sully a Siberian Husky. They were similar looking to Sully's beloved Malamute wolves, however they were a smaller breed. Michaela liked the idea and Katie okayed it, though she still wanted to find a Malamute pup for her father.

When Katie married Finn, the couple went on their Honeymoon in Boston. They travelled North to Maine at one point and Finn happened to hear about a man who was giving away puppies. He was a breeder of snow white Labradors. He was furious that two of his females mated with mutts without his knowledge and was giving away all the pups. One female mated with a Pitbull and their pups looked similar to the purebreds, but their coats were shorter and some of the pups had grey or brown spots. Some of them had wider looking skulls. The other female mated with a Malamute. That was how Finn found Winnie.

Winnie was the runt of the litter and the last Malamute mix to be adopted. She was a sweet little snow white fluff ball with prick ears. Katie thought she was just perfect and named her Winter. She gave her to Sully when she and her husband returned home from their honeymoon.

"How can I join the living, Poppy?" Katie asked.

"I know that when you talked to Mr. Nelson at the cemetery yesterday, you got your hopes up for a split second, only to have them dashed," Sully commented, "It upset ya enough that ya missed work today. You can't do that Kates. Those kids need ya too and they depend on ya being there. The older ones are about to take their college entrance exams. They need you. They need your support. It ain't right for ya to let them down."

"Yes, Sir," Katie answered solemnly. As sad as she was, she didn't want to let her students down, "What should I do? I'm dressed, I can go in."

"No," Sully said, shaking his head, "Ma got a message to Miss Teresa. She's got them today. But go in tomorrow and don't miss another day. Entrance exams are in a few weeks, and there are only a few weeks after that left in the school year. Then you'll all be out for the summer. Ya need to be there, coachin' them, reviewin' with them. Then havin' fun with them."

"Will you still take my class on a nature walk after exams?" Katie asked.

"Yes, of course, Kates," Sully answered, "Don't even ask that. You know I'll be there."

Katie nodded and ate more of her brunch.

"The Spring Dance is this Saturday night," Sully reminded his daughter, "I want ya to go."

"I don't want to go to a dance, Pa," Katie insisted.

"I can't force ya," Sully said, "Me and Ma ain't gonna even try to do that, but I want ya to go, and so does Ma."

Katie looked down at her plate.

"Ma and I are goin'," Sully said, "Brian and Samantha are goin'. Horace is gonna look after the grandchildren. Colleen and Andrew are goin'. Wyatt and William are goin' too, and they're both bringin' dates as far as I know."

"Yes, I know. They're courting girls in my class," Katie informed her father, "Wyatt is courting Coralynne Hart, Ben and Sylvia Hart's daughter. William is courting Scarlett Brooks, Kyle and Sara Brooks' daughter."

"Uh oh," Sully said with a laugh.

"Uh oh? Why uh oh?" Katie questioned her father.

"Your brother used to court Sara, when she was still Sara Sheehan," Sully informed Katie, "Sara married his arch nemesis, Kyle. It might be awkward for him to see his nephew court their daughter."

"Isn't that all ancient history?" she replied, "Brian is now married himself with two kids. Samantha is beautiful and much younger than Sara. Brian can show her off as his prize. Not that I would condone that."

Sully chucked, "I know that. He loves Samantha and the kids. He was head over heels for Sara. Part of the reason why he took the job at the Boston Globe, when you were still a little girl, was to get away from Colorado Springs because Sara had broken his heart."

"Working for the Boston Globe was still a tremendous opportunity for him, and he had Grandma to pull a few strings to help him," she reminded her father.

"That's all true too," Sully said, "We'll have to see how it goes."

Colleen entered Michaela's office in a huff and sat down in a chair and crossed her arms.

"What's wrong?" Michaela asked, looking up from her paperwork.

"Sometimes I hate men," Colleen reported.

"Why?" Michaela laughed.

"I had two pelvic exams scheduled today," Colleen said, "I am more than capable of examining a man's loins to check for abnormalities."

"Oh dear," Michaela answered her daughter, knowing exactly where this was going.

"Of my patients that I have been treating for years, refused to allow me to touch him, citing impropriety," Colleen mocked, "He demanded to see Andrew."

"You've been doing his pelvic exam for years?" her mother questioned.

"No, he has never requested one," The younger woman huffed, "But I've treated everything else. He once had a boil that I lanced on his bottom!"

"Well, Colleen, sometimes men are just more comfortable with other men when it comes to an examination of their private area," Michaela tried to soothe her daughter. She knew their job all too well.

"I have allowed male doctors, who are not my husband, examine my breasts and loins and I didn't make a big deal about it," Colleen complained, "That wasn't even what angered me the most today."

"What angered you the most?" Michaela questioned.

"The second patient," she said, "He allowed me to do the exam, but afterward, he slapped my rear end."

"Now that is inappropriate and I will not allow-" Michaela started to say and stood up from her desk. She was ready to have the patient expelled.

"Don't bother," Colleen told her mother and Michaela sat back down, "Andrew has dealt with it already. It just makes me so angry."

"I know, Sweetheart," Michaela tried to soothe her daughter once again, "We are professional women, and many men can't handle it. Andrew and your brothers are respectful. That should make you feel better."

"Pa is too," Colleen said to Michaela, "Right?"

"Yes he is," Michaela said, "If you were examining him, he would never behave boorishly."

"What about when you examine him?" Colleen asked.

"He's not disrespectful, but he does like to tease me," Michaela reported.

"Tease you?" she inquired.

"Yes," The mother said, "When I give him his yearly physical, he insists that I bring him flowers because he thinks it's only right that I court him first."

That was enough to make Colleen start laughing hysterically.

"He would never behave that way if it was any other female physician giving him the exam. He would lie still and be respectful," Michaela said, "He only requests flowers because it's me. He does like to tease me. He always has."

Colleen shook her head and the mother and daughter laughed together.

"Bernice wired me," Colleen said to Michaela, "She said that she and Matthew, and the kids are coming up this weekend and will attend the dance."

"Oh, wonderful," Michaela said, happy to hear that her oldest was coming home for the weekend.

"I hope Horace doesn't mind watching three extra kids," Colleen said, "Matthew and Bernice will stay with Andrew and I and the boys. We are shipping Oliver, Alex and Willa to Brian's house."

Michaela and Colleen laughed together just imagining the chaos.

"Bernice and I were thinking of going to a fair that they're having in Manitou on Saturday morning. We will be back for the dance in the evening," the daughter explained to the mother, "We're going to invite Samantha. We want to invite you and Katie to come along too."

"I would love to go Colleen, but you're father and I made plans to go hiking that morning," the mother said, "We will be back in time to bathe and get ready for the dance."

"What about Katie?" she asked.

"We can try to convince her, but you know how her melancholia gets the better of her," Michaela stated.

"That doesn't mean we stop trying to snap her out of it," Colleen said.

"No, we can never stop trying," Michaela said with a nod, "Colleen, I need to get your opinion on something."

"What?" she asked.

Michaela began to tell Colleen all about the Nelson family.

To be continued.

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