The dual suns had been crossing the sky since they emerged from the north-eastern skyline, but now the day was drawing to a close. The suns lit up the sky with brilliant pinks and oranges that reflected against the shining sand of the desert. The sky shone so magnificently that in some places, you couldn't tell where the sunsets ended and the sand began.

With a sigh, the young man ended his day of work and eased himself into the rocking chair that sat on his porch.

Ahhh… That feels so good… he thought as he settled his body comfortably into the chair. His blue hair, reflecting the brilliance of the sky, gave off a radiant purple aura. He stretched his legs, tucked his hands and arms behind his head and smiled to himself. It had been a long day, but now it was done, and he could relax. His eyes traced the land that stretched out in front of him. It was seemingly endless.

Mostly desert surrounded the ranch, except for a couple other animal farms that were just barely within sight and a small town in the far east. Other farms and bred and slaughtered their livestock for food to eat, and meat to sell, but this particular ranch bred and raised Thomases for aiding labour and transportation. Even as young as 27, the young man had made more than a decent living for himself and his family doing this. That was, up until lately…

A continuous stream of creditors and landlords and lawyers- all strangers- came to his home to talk to him about their family's financial situation. As it turned out, he was deeply in debt. However, he knew he could make it through. He would work hard for his family, and that's just what he was doing.

"Daddeee!!" cried a little girl who ran outside through the screen door to the man's left. She left the screen to slam shut as she bounded toward her father. "Daddy! Can we go see Sammy? Please, please, pretty please?? I promise I'll be careful!" Her hair, blue- like her father's, bounced with her as she leapt into her father's lap.

"Yay!" She wrapped her small arms around her father's neck and kissed him on the cheek.

He returned it, wrapping his own arms around her and lifted her with him as he stood from the chair. He carried her over to the screen door where he hollered, "Gracie! I'm taking Sana to see the Thomases! If you need us, we'll be over by the pen!" and carried his child down the front steps. He twirled around, holding the girl securely, and she giggled.

Sana in arm, he walked around the side of the house and came to a gate. The man put his daughter down beside him and unlatched the gate. It swung open and Sana took her father's hand and pulled him with all her might in the direction of the pen.

"C'mon Daddy! Hurry!" She giggled softly and let go of his hand. She rushed over to the pen and clambered up the chain links. She rested her arms on the top of the fence and peered over the top.

The pen was full of Thomases of all ages. There were old, frail looking Thomases that were going to die of old age quite soon that knelt in the far corner and new-born calves suckling on their mother, and Thomases of all ages between. The man approached the side of the pen and rested his elbows on the ledge, letting his hands dangle in the pen.

As his daughter surveyed the herd, her eyes lit up with glee, reflecting the colours of the setting suns. "Sammeeee!" She called with cupped hands out into the pen. A small Thomas that stood in the corner to her right perked her ears and made her way across the pen to Sana. The girl extended her hand and patted the Thomas on the head and it brayed, turning its head up so she could scratch underneath.

"Oh, Daddy! Baby Thomases are just so cute, aren't they?" She asked as she turned to face her father.

"That they are, Sunshine!" The father and daughter exchanged grins. Sana was so enthused by the Thomases, her father knew she would be a good caretaker for the animals when he died or decided to turn it over.

Another Thomas looked up at the pair from the ground and began sniffing at the man's fingers and hands. It stood there for a moment before commencing to nibble on his fingers. He yanked his hands out of the pen and stuck his index finger into his mouth and grimaced comically. He let out a few "ooh!"s and "ah!"s while jumping around in the sand. Sana hopped down from the fence and took her father's hand from his mouth.

Stroking it, she said with a little laugh, "Oh, you'll be okay!"

He plunked his finger back into his mouth and shook his head. "Nuh uh," he said and pouted.

"Why not?" Sana asked with another laugh.

"Why not?!" And exasperated look washed over his face. "Why NOT?!" His eyes opened wide and he stared at her. He held his finger a few inches from his daughter's face. "I'll tell you why, lil missy! I'll tell you why!" The man looked from side to side and then narrowed his eyebrows. "Thomas Fever," he whispered.

"Thomas Fever?" She repeated with wide eyes.

He nodded solemnly.

Sana looked over to the Thomas pen and back at her father.

"Yep," he nodded. "Very serious condition in which the sufferer…" he brayed, imitating a Thomas nearly perfectly. "Into a…" He fell onto all fours and brayed again.

"A what??"

"A THOMAS!"

Sana gasped, "But… that's impossible!"

"Or so you…" he brayed a third time, "Or so you think!"

She bent down and looked closely at his blue hair. The light wasn't as bright and he no longer held that violet aura. "But you don't look like a Thomas!"

"Well," he looked up at her. "That's now… Soon, who knows!"

Sana touched his head. "Your hair is still blue, Daddy! Maybe we can still fix you!"

"Well, I don't know." He stroked his chin. "I've heard that once you get a good homemade dinner into you, it'll reverse…" He jumped back to his feet and swept her up into his arms.

She laughed, "Oh Daddy! You're so silly!"

He twirled her around and hoisted her up onto his shoulders. "What makes you think I'm being silly!?"

From inside, Sana's mother called out. "Dinner! C'mon in you guys!!"

"Ah hah!" he cried. "Now we'll see!"

Sana nodded and giggled, "Giddy-up, Thomas Daddy!"

The pair walked back around to the front door of the house. The man lifted his daughter off his shoulders and placed her on the ground.

"Mummy!!!" She ran into the house and wrapped her arms around her mother's waist. "Daddy's gonna turn into a Thomas!!"

"Oh he is, is he? Well, you go get cleaned up for dinner. I'll see what I can do about your father." She replied with a smile.

"Yes, Mummy," she said and ran off to the bathroom.

The man walked into the kitchen, embraced his wife and kissed her lovingly on her lips. He brushed a few strands of blonde hair out of her face and kissed her again, on the cheek. "I love you," he said.

"I love you too, Legato," she said and again, they became caught up in a passionate kiss.

"Ewww!!" Sana had returned from the bathroom and was standing in the doorway. "Kissing is gross!"

Legato tore his face away from his love's and stuck out his tongue. "Well, excuuuse me, lil missy!"

Grace smiled and turned around to the counter where their meals sat.

Legato sat down at the dinner table. "So, Grace…What do you have for a poor, old, sick man like me?"

"Yeah, Mum! If he doesn't eat dinner, then he'll turn into a Thomas!

"Oh, will he?" Grace placed their dinner plates in front of them. The meal consisted of roast, potatoes and green beans. "And why is that?"

"Thomas Fever!" Sana said, nodding intently.

Grace looked over at her husband. "Oh, Legato… What are you filling her mind with today?" She said with a smile, looking from her husband to her daughter and back again.

Legato replied, "Oh, she knows how much I like to play around…" He looked to Sana. "Right, Sunshine?"

Sana nodded firmly. "It's a joke, Mummy. Laugh."

Grace looked back and forth between them. "I'm sorry… It's just… I've been so busy with the housework and cooking and cleaning. It doesn't leave too much time for jokes, unfortunately." She shrugged, "But that's what we have your father for, right?" Grace placed her hand on her husband's as Sana nodded cheerily.

"Yes, yes!"

"Well, I'm starved." Legato pointed out. "I'm not sure about you guys but I am!" He picked up his fork and began to eat his potatoes.

Sana and her mother nodded. They were hungry too.

The clock's hands pointed out that the time was 8 PM when the Bluesummers' finished eating dinner and cleaning up the kitchen and Sana had begun to yawn.

"Mummy, I'm tired…" Sana stretched her arms and scrunched her eyes as she yawned.

Legato pulled her up to his face and kissed her on the forehead. "I love you, Sana… don't you ever forget that." The pair smiled at each other. He patted her on the back. "Now go upstairs and get ready for bed, Sunshine."

"I love you too, Daddy!" Sana ran over to her mother and hugged her waist. "Goodnight, Mummy! I love you too too!"

Grace smiled at her daughter and took her by the hand. "C'mon Sana, I'll help you get ready for bed." Leading Sana upstairs, Grace turned around and smiled at her husband.

Legato walked into the living room and plopped onto the couch. He sighed again. This was the first time he'd been able to relax without any interruptions. The cushions were much more comfortable for his back than any chair anyways. Legato stared around at the objects that sat around the room. Some of Sana's toys lay on the floor as well as some dirty clothes that hadn't made it to the laundry yet. He tried not to think of cleaning as work he had to do, but he hated the idea of making his wife clean up after him all day, every day.

He stood up once again and walked across the room to where the stray pair of pants sat, all bunched up. He bent over, picked it up and tucked it under his arm. He now stood in the center of the living room, facing the hallway that ran from the kitchen to the front hall. Behind him sat the coffee table and couch, to his left, a piano stood, to his right a book case with various knickknacks placed about it and beside the door in front of him stood a cabinet.

Legato went over to the pile of toys that sat on the floor in front of the cabinet. He gathered them up and put them in her toy box that sat beside the couch, except for her dolly, which he placed on the cabinet ledge. With the pants still tucked under his arm, he made his way down the hall and into the bathroom where there was a relatively empty hamper. He tossed it in from the doorway and then turned around and started back to the living room.

He plunked back down on the couch and surveyed the room once again. This time, there was no mess to dread cleaning, but a wealth of family portraits to stare at. Legato's eyes wandered from picture to picture until they rested on one of his daughter when she was 4 years old. Sana was wearing a royal-blue dress with white lace. Her long blue hair was curled up in ringlets and she had the most charming smile on her face. Her golden eyes shone as brightly as her father's.

While Legato's mind was reviewing the past, Grace entered the room wearing a silk nightgown. Legato's eyes met hers and Grace sat down beside him on the couch. He turned his head and caressed her lips with his own. The only thing passing through Legato's mind was how much he loved his wife.  He placed a hand on her side and whispered, "I love you."

"I love you too…" She looked up at him with her deep brown eyes, smiling with them in that strange way women do.

Legato looked back at the portrait of his daughter. "She's so beautiful…"

Grace turned her head to see what he was looking at. She saw the picture hanging on the wall. "She is…"

He sighed and looked at Grace. "She reminds me so much of my sister…"

"Well, Sana certainly does resemble your family more than mine."

Legato nodded. "But she has you inside…" He smiled softly at her and held her close. "Petra and I had so much fun together as kids… Sana is so playful like Petra was, too."

Grace breathed deeply and snuggled her husband, nuzzling up to his neck like a cat. It wasn't strange for her to do that, she was a bit odd. But that was okay, because Legato was a little bit odd as well.

"So, what was she like?"

Legato stared at his wife. "Well… There's not a lot I can tell you. I, er… she… Well, she's…gone." Legato paused a moment before continuing. To Grace, it seemed almost contemplative. "She ran away." He said abruptly. There was no need to explain any more than that.

Grace frowned. "That's sad…"

Legato nodded slowly and stared at the portrait of his child. Such beautiful blue hair… She was so beautiful, inside and out. One day, she would make a man very, very happy.

He forced his eyes away from the pictures and to his wife. Her blonde hair glimmered in the light of the lantern that sat on the table. It was dark outside, and it provided the only light in the room. Legato moved his hand from Grace's side and placed it on her breast. She smiled and caressed his chest with her hand, moving it up and down his abdomen as well.

"Sana's asleep…" Grace whispered with a slightly sultry voice.

Legato smiled at his wife. "Yes, she is." He looked to the ceiling where her bedroom might be.

Grace's hand reached from his abdomen, down and Legato reached to turn out the lantern.