Ranger walked into the room carrying the bed tray again, followed by the three girls. They looked scared, and I grinned at them. "Hey, did Daddy tell you my joke?"

The girls put their thumbs in their mouths and shook their heads. "What's brown and sticky?" I said.

"Euww", said Tia.

"Chocolate pudding?" said Alix.

"Chocolate-nut spread?" said Grace.

"Good guesses", I said. "A stick."

The kids all laughed.

"Okay, how about this one. Can a kangaroo jump higher than our apartment?"

"No", said Grace. "Our apartment building is tall."

"Uh-uh. A kangaroo can jump higher than our apartment building. Do you know why?" The kids thought about that. "An apartment building can't jump."

The girls laughed hard.

"Okay, last one. What did one muffin say to the other muffin when they were popped into the oven to bake?"

The girls thought about that. "It's hot in here?" said Tia.

"Come bake with me?" said Grace.

"Nothing", I said. "Muffins can't talk."

The girls laughed again, and by the end of the third joke they looked very relaxed around me. They had climbed onto the bed during the jokes and were grinning at me, and Ranger passed out banana milkshakes as I started eating my pineapple upside-down cake. "Did you get some cake at lunch?" I said.

"Yes, thank you", said Grace.

"No", said Alix sadly, although her eyes were twinkling. "You share?"

"Let's see", I said as I screwed up my face and pretended to think about it. "Nope."

The girls laughed. "That's okay", said Tia. "Alix had a large piece of cake."

I smiled and looked at her. "Was it good, Alix?"

"Yeah!" she said.

"Did you save any for me?"

She grinned. "You have your own cake."

I laughed. "Yes, I do." I paused. "But not for long. This cake is seriously good and I'm going to gobble it all up."

The girls laughed again.

"So how do you feel about Val going to jail?"

The girls all looked angry. "She hurt you, Mommy", said Tia.

"I liked it when Daddy threw her against the wall", said Alix.

"Alix has been practicing her throwing skills", said Grace.

I smiled. "Don't hurt anyone though, okay? If you are practicing, do it in slow motion so that no one gets hurt."

"Okay, Mommy", said Alix.

"Mommy?" said Grace, "do you still hurt?"

"Yes, but I am on medication that is helping me feel better."

"What happened?"

"Remember that my legs are sore and the skin was burned off? Val believed that I was making my hurt legs up, and she kicked me to prove that I was okay. But my legs really are sore and the tissues are fragile since there is no healthy skin covering them, so Val's kick caused my leg to start bleeding and it caused intense pain. However, now I am on medication so that it doesn't hurt as much, and Kai and Grant are monitoring things to make sure I heal again well. I'll be okay. It will just take a little longer than I would like."

"Mommy?" said Grace tentatively. "Will you walk again?"

"I think so. It just might take a little time. For a while, I might have to use a wheelchair. Grant suggested that I get it powder coated in a color rather than black. I have to think about that a bit. The good thing about it being black is that it goes with the Rangeman colors, and it will color coordinate with all my clothes and uniforms. What do you think?"

The girls thought about that. "I think pink, Mommy", said Tia. "A pink wheelchair would be pretty and it would look nice with your uniforms."

"That's true. It would."

"Dark purple", said Alix. "Would go with black."

"That's true as well."

"Rainbow!" said Grace. "It would go with ALL the colors."

I laughed. "I don't even know if they can do that. But if they could, can you imagine Noah's face? He would be so jealous and he would want a rainbow chair of his own." Noah was one of my managers on my research team. He had his doctorate in Forensic Psychology, he was brilliant, and he was a fabulous team member and a good friend of mine. He was also Special Forces and, on the battlefield, he lost both his legs. He didn't let it get him down however, and went back to school. He was someone that if I grew my managerial team, I would probably give a promotion to. He was an incredible researcher, a great trainer, and a good person.

I had actually been thinking of him quite a lot over the last week. I had wondered if I would call him for support. I had always found him inspirational and, with his training in Psychology, I thought that perhaps he would be a good person to talk to.

Of course, there was always Eduardo as well. Whenever I saw him I could tell that he was itching to help.

"What about black with pink and purple cushions", said Tia, "and then you could switch them to black when you go to work?"

I smiled. "That's an incredible idea."

"Flowers", said Alix.

"Yes", I said. "If the cushions could have pink and purple flowers on it, and maybe some butterflies?"

The girls all smiled.

"We'll see what we can do. I don't even know if they sell them."

The girls grinned.

"So, I notice that there are no pictures on my wall yet."

The girls smiled with delight. I could hardly wait until I could see what they came up with.

I finished my smoothie and put the glass back on the bed tray. "Are you full, babe?" said Ranger.

"I am", I said. "I'm glad you got me a big piece of cake before the little mice in the kitchen ate it up."

"We have mice?" said Tia. "I like mice. They're cute."

"You know what? Once, I was at Uncle Joe's house and he was cleaning up his garage. He removed an old and broken cupboard from the wall, and when he did he discovered a mouse nest behind the cupboard. He said the baby mice were little, with huge ears and huge eyes, and they all stared at him."

"What did he do?" said Grace.

"He put the cupboard back on the wall until the mice had outgrown their nest, and when the baby mice were grown up and could live on their own, he took the cupboard off the wall then."

"Good", said Grace.

"I would have killed them", said Ranger.

"No, Daddy!" said Grace in horror.

I laughed. "You would not. Once you saw those eyes, and those big ears, you would have done exactly the same thing as Joe did. You can't fool me."

"Nope", said Ranger with a smile. "I'm hard and tough. I would not be taken in by big eyes and big ears." I looked steadily at him and he sighed. "Okay, I might be taken in by them a little." I looked at him some more and he sighed again. "Okay, I would have put the cupboard back up as well."

I laughed. Grace grinned and kissed him on his cheek. "You're a good person, Daddy", she said.

I laughed again as his face turned red.

The kids stayed a few minutes more before Lindsay knocked on the door. We told her to come in, and she carried in two gift bags. The girls looked incredibly excited. They hopped off the bed and the four of them – Lindsay, Tia, Grace and Alix – all carried the first bag to me. Lindsay put it on the bed beside me, and I took out six frames, each picture made of handprints. Tia had done one of an owl, where the palmprint formed the body of the bird, the fingers the feathers, and she added a face, feet, and the branch that the bird was standing on. She then, in her most careful writing, printed her name and the date on the bottom of the paper. Grace did a fish, and Alix did a butterfly. Tia did another of an ostrich, Grace did a crab, and Alix did a peacock. The last picture frame in the bag was larger and would go in the middle of the display on the wall, and was a wreath made of handprints, each print a different color of the rainbow. I started to cry. "This is one of the nicest presents that you have ever made me", I said. "Do you think we could put it up on the wall over there so that I can see it easily, and then when you are busy playing it will be like you are always here with me."

The girls grinned. "Yeah!" they said.

I gave each of the girls a hug and a kiss and I smiled at them as I wiped my face of tears. They looked so proud of themselves. I could hardly wait until the pictures were up on the wall. They were beautiful, and they would look incredible against the pale silver-gray paint.

Lindsay grinned. "I have to say that Tia, Grace and Alix are very creative. They had to play around with shapes for a while, but each of the pictures came from their own imagination. They did an excellent job."

I sniffled again. "Yes, they did, and every time I look at my wall the pictures will make me smile."

Grace grinned. "It's the smile wall, Mommy."

I smiled. "Yes, it is."

Lindsay handed me the second bag. I pulled out an incredibly soft plaid dress done in the Black Shadow tartan. It was a sheath dress with cap sleeves and a low crew neck. It would go to knee length and had a slit up the side of the skirt so that it was comfortable to walk in. It was beautiful.

"I had it designed to go to knee length", said Lindsay as I started crying again. "I figured that would be less likely to irritate your injury. I also bought soft black tights with a lot of spandex in them, again to be more comfortable, and a pair of Mary Janes that open to the toe, that I thought would be more comfortable for you but would still be dressy to wear with more formal wear. For the dress and your shoes, I borrowed some of yours so that the dressmaker and I could estimate the size." I pulled out the package of tights – there were three pairs in the package. Lindsay was right. They were incredibly soft. I then reached into the bag and pulled out an inky black blazer that would coordinate perfectly with the dress.

I sniffled. "Thank you", I said. "It looks like I might be needing this sooner than we thought. Wherever did you find nice shoes like those?"

"I had them made. I looked everywhere, but what I wanted wasn't available. So I went to a shoemaker, and this is what we ended up with."

I grinned. "These are going to be perfect, and they will look fabulous with the dress."

"It's pretty, Mommy", said Tia. "It has squares on it."

"Now there's a story with this dress", I said. The three little girls listened to me intently. "The type of material in the dress is called a plaid, and that means that it has squares on it. This plaid is very subtle and is made with different intensities of black. You can see it if you look, but you really have to look to see it, and as I move it will pop in and out of view. The name of this plaid is Black Shadow because of it, and Colin had it designed for himself. There aren't many people who wear this tartan – which is another word for plaid that is made with this kind of material – but I like it because when I wear it, I will be thinking of Colin being beside me giving me courage. I'll wear it whenever I feel a little unsure of myself."

"It's black, too, so you can wear it to work", said Tia.

I smiled. "That's precisely the idea. It will become my favorite court dress. I have to go to court a lot and tell the judge what our research has found out, and sometimes I get nervous having to talk in front of so many people. When I wear this, it will be like Colin is whispering in my ear, 'you can do this'."

"You do?" said Alix. She smiled with relief and, as she did, she confirmed to me what I had been suspecting for a while. Alix suffered from anxiety talking in front of large groups of people that she didn't know. If she knew them, she was fine. But when she didn't know them she got nervous and often hid behind me. "So do I, Mommy. It's scary when everybody turns and looks at you."

"It's hard, isn't it? Wearing this dress will give me courage."

Lindsay looked at Alix for a second, then she smiled. "If you look in that bag, there is one more thing", she said. I reached into the bag and pulled out four long ribbons made from the remainder of the Black Shadow fabric. "There is one ribbon for each of you and one for Julie. Just like your Mom, this will let you wear a piece of Colin's tartan to remind you that he is there, watching over you and cheering you on. It is to give you courage."

Alix especially looked excited. "Thank you", she said. She looked at me. "Mommy, I have courage too."

"Yes, you do. You and your sisters are the bravest people that I have ever met."

"Do you think the three of you could go down and give Julie's courage ribbon to her? She is in the morning room with Miguel and Dirk and Nick", said Ranger.

The girls looked excited, and they quickly gave each of us kisses and hugs, and ran out of the room for the morning room. "Walk!" I yelled out after them, and I grinned as I heard them slow down into a power walk.

I looked at Lindsay. "I can't tell you how much your presents mean to me. Both of them have incredible emotional value, and I will treasure them."

Lindsay smiled. "I know I am probably flooding you with too many presents. However, I never had a daughter, and I am just having so much fun looking for things that I think you'll like. I think of it this way. Colin adopted you as a daughter, which makes me your aunt, and I have almost forty years of presents to get caught up on."

I laughed and cried at the same time. "I'll never be able to repay you for everything you have done for me, for us."

Lindsay sniffled. "Now you are getting me going. Just being in your life is repayment enough. I can't tell you how much pleasure you have brought me."

She sniffled again, took the dress and blazer and hung it on a hanger. She showed me the two together and I grinned. "That is absolutely perfect", I said. "It is an incredibly beautiful outfit, and I look forward to wearing it."

Lindsay grinned. "Colin would be so proud."

"Dammit", I said, "you're getting me going again."

Lindsay laughed, and sniffled herself.