They were all together that Thanksgiving evening.

Rafe and Danny had had a long talk and he got his son to agree to come down for dinner. Thomas had carved the turkey in the kitchen because he did not want to upset his grandson any more than he already was.

So as the turkey, mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce was passed around the table, Rafe and Evelyn looked at each other and knew they would always remember this holiday. They had so much to be thankful for and were glad that the secret they'd carried with them for the last sixteen years was finally out. Their biggest fear had not been realized, Danny loved his father more than ever and their two younger children felt no differently about their older brother than they had before.

Evelyn could only hope that the whole thing had brought her three children closer together and if it had, she couldn't ask for more than that.

After dinner was over, Sarah had her two youngest grandchildren help her clear the table and clean up the kitchen. When they protested that Danny wasn't going to help their grandfather reminded them that if it hadn't been for their brother, there would have been no turkey. So while Sarah and her namesake and Joseph started to clear the table, Danny and his grandfather walked out to the parlor where Danny started a fire in the fireplace. Rafe and Evelyn followed them out long enough to get their coats on and head out the front door.

"Don't wander off too far son. Your mama will have pie and coffee in a little while." Thomas told him.

"We won't be long Daddy." Rafe promised.

He waited for Evelyn to walk out ahead of him, then closed the front door. It was cold and he kept a tight hold on her hand as they began to walk and he sighed.

She put her head on his shoulder. "What's the sigh for?"

"I can't remember when we've had a nicer Thanksgivin'. I always worried what would happen when we told Danny everything because I didn't know how he would take it."

Evelyn tightened her hold on his hand and nodded. "It was something that worried me too and I'm still not sure he's forgiven me for what happened."

"He's a good boy Evelyn. He knows what happened wasn't because you didn't love me, it was because you were tryin' to move on. He'll understand in time that if I could put it behind me and love you even more, he can too."

"I hope so Rafe." She said.

They continued to walk the dirt road around the farm and a memory came to Evelyn that she'd long forgotten. Rafe had brought her back to Tennessee after the war was over and she wasn't sure how his parents would receive her. They had only met once when Danny was a year old and she and Rafe had had their church wedding. They seemed to be very nice people but the fact remained that the son she had wasn't Rafe's.

She needn't have worried because once Rafe brought her home Evelyn had become a part of their family, as well as Danny. Thomas had taken to Danny immediately and Danny had taken to him. They were as close as any grandson and grandfather could be and perhaps closer because of the secret they all shared. Thomas and Sarah never wanted Danny to feel that they were not his grandparents, especially after the other children came along.

"He asked me about Danny." Rafe's voice broke softly into her thoughts.

Evelyn looked up at him and could make out his profile in the moonlight. He looked so serious. "Are you all right?"

He nodded. "It's just been so long since I've talked about him and it felt strange talking to my son about his father."

"Your mother told me earlier today that we're facing a new situation and we'll figure it out as we go along." She sighed. "What did he ask you?"

"He asked what he was like when we were boys and why we went into the Air Corps. He asked me how I felt when I got to Hawaii and found out about the two of you."

"It was inevitable that he would ask you about that." And she sighed again. "Oh Rafe, all these questions to answer all over again."

He let go of her hand to put his arm around her waist. "I know this hasn't been easy for you honey and if I could turn back the clock a couple of months, I would."

"I know you would and I love you for wishing you could. But this was going to have to come out eventually and I'm just glad that it didn't hurt your relationship with him. That's what I was afraid of more than anything. You weren't to blame about what happened and I think part of me was prepared for him to hate me but if it had changed how he felt about you, I would never have been able to forgive myself. "

"Well, everythin' turned out fine and Danny will adjust."

She nodded as she tightened her hold around his waist and they strolled back to the house.

By the time they reached the front porch, Danny was there. "Gramps says to tell you that the fire is blazin', the coffee is perkin' and Gram's pie is ready to be eaten." He told them with a grin.

"That sounds fine son, lead the way." Rafe answered with a grin of his own and they followed Danny into the house.

The smell of fresh coffee lured Evelyn into the kitchen. Sarah sat at the kitchen table with a fresh cup of coffee in front of her and she looked absolutely exhausted. She told Evelyn that she and the children had put the kitchen back in order, but she suspected that Sarah had done most of it. They were nowhere to be found and Sarah told her she'd sent them upstairs to get ready for bed. "It's been a long day and they were up at the crack of dawn." She smiled.

Evelyn poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down next to her mother in law. "You were up before that Sarah, why don't you go upstairs yourself?"

"There's so much to get ready for tomorrow." She said.

"I can take care of that. I've watched you over these last thirteen years and I know what needs to be done." Evelyn offered.

"That is a very tempting offer Evelyn." Sarah admitted.

"Then take me up on it."

"I'll tell you what, I'll have my coffee and some pie then I'll head upstairs."

Evelyn smiled. "It's a deal."

It wasn't long before Thomas, Rafe and Danny walked into the kitchen. "All right mother, where is that pumpkin pie?" Thomas asked Sarah.

"On the back of the stove keeping warm and there is fresh whipped cream in the icebox."

"That's my girl." He said with a smile and he kissed her cheek.

If Evelyn didn't know better she'd swear she saw Sarah blush. She'd never considered how an older married couple would be and it certainly never crossed her mind that a woman married as long as Sarah had been would react to an offhand compliment such as that. She did notice that Sarah's reaction did not go unnoticed by her husband and he grinned. "I can still make her blush every now and again."

"Take your son, your grandson and your pie out to the parlor Tom." She was flustered by the comment and that surprised Evelyn. Would she and Rafe be like that when they'd been married as long as his parents had been?

"You're really somethin' Sarah." He said and kissed her cheek again before he did as his wife had asked and took his pie and his coffee out to the parlor.

"That man." She said after he had left the kitchen.

"I think it's wonderful Sarah. It's so obvious he loves you." Evelyn observed.

"There is something about the McCawley men that when they love a woman, she's loved completely."

Evelyn nodded because she knew exactly what Sarah meant.

"And Danny will be like that too."

"But Danny's not a McCawley." She said without thinking and immediately regretted it, of course he was.

Sarah smiled and laid her hand on Evelyn's. "Not by blood, that's true. But he's watched his father and his grandfather while he's been growing up and because of that, he'll treat the woman he eventually falls in love with the same way."

It was an odd thing for Evelyn to think about her son falling in love because he was still so young. "He's only sixteen."

"Tom knew he wanted to marry me when he was sixteen."

"I didn't know that." Evelyn was amazed.

"Honey, you know how it is when you meet the right person. Some are just a little younger when they figure it out and Tom knew." She laughed at the memory. "Of course it took a lot of convincing me, but I came around."

"Rafe knew before I did."

"I wouldn't doubt it. My son has always known what he's wanted and he's usually gotten it."

Evelyn smiled because her son was the same way. As she took a sip of her coffee, Rafe walked into the kitchen. "Mama, if you don't need Evelyn any more I thought we'd go upstairs."

She glanced up at him and the look in his eye told her what he had in mind. "Rafe we can't. I told your mother to go ahead upstairs and I would take care of things for her."

Sarah laughed. "You go ahead Evelyn, it won't take me long. But for now I think I'll join Tom and Danny out in the parlor and finish my coffee. Goodnight you two." And she kissed each of them on the cheek and gave them a hug before she picked up her coffee cup and walked out to the parlor.

Rafe and Evelyn were left alone in the kitchen and she could feel her face flush.

He grinned and put his arms around her. "I seem to remember a promise this mornin' that if I went huntin' with my son, you'd make it all worth it. Or have you forgotten?"

"I haven't forgotten."

"That's what kept me from freezin' while we stood out there. And I've been waitin' all day to get you to myself." He admitted.

She couldn't help but laugh because she understood what he meant. "Me too."

"Well, hell." He said with a grin as he let her go and took her hand. "You really surprise me honey." He added as they went upstairs.

Evelyn kept her promise that night and made the early hour of hunting that he'd had to endure all worth it.