McQueen's Ark Chapter 4.

It was a beautiful summer's day. The sky was a clear blue and the sun provided enough heat to be comfortable, but not too hot, as Dill walked along behind Ty and the children. She was pushing Izzy's buggy, which was empty of Izzy, but carrying their picnic lunch. Ty had Izzy on his shoulders, her legs dangling around his neck and her hands clutching at his short silver hair, while the boys ran on ahead of them, trying to hurry him up. They had so much they wanted him to see.

Dill smiled as she realised how alike the boys and he were dressed, something that made the resemblance between them even more pronounced. All three wore denim shorts, Ty's coming to his knees, and plain cotton, short sleeved shirts. They even had similar sandals on their feet.

She almost laughed out loud as she remembered the expression on his face as she'd handed them to him.

"You want me to wear these?" Ty had asked disbelievingly.

"I suppose you thought you'd wear your boots, did you?" she'd grinned.

"My running shoes maybe," he'd said hopefully, looking at the sandals in his hand as if they might bite him.

"What's the matter with them? I asked the man in the store for the chunkiest, manliest ones he had," Dill had responded.

"But they're…"

"Sandals, Ty. They won't hurt you! For goodness sake, last summer you said how nice the boys' ones looked, and maybe you should get some. So I got you some. If you don't want to wear them, fine, don't wear them."

At which point Cameron had come running in to hurry him up. McQueen had looked from the little boy's sandaled feet to the sandals in his hand and back again, before sighing exaggeratedly, and sitting on the edge of the bed, to put them on. "You're dominating me again, Dill," he'd grinned, winking at her.

"Just get your shoes on and help me pack the car," she'd laughed, "before I get my whip out. And no socks!"

"Promises, promises!" Ty had chuckled, as Cameron had pulled him out of the door.

McQueen turned to see what Dill was chuckling about and she gasped. No one would notice that he was an invitro today - they'd all be looking at the two amazingly purple and yellow bruised eyes and the swollen nose he was sporting. The previous afternoon she'd forced him up to the cottage hospital, and her mother had scanned his face, finding that indeed his nose was broken. Fortunately for him it didn't need setting.

Dill grinned at him. "God, you're gorgeous. Did I tell you that today?"

"Uh huh. Right after I looked in the mirror and screamed!" Ty laughed.

"Daddy! Come on!" Cameron pulled at McQueen's shorts.

"Okay, okay. I'm coming," he told the little boy. "So where are we going first?"

"Food for the nanamals," Hamish told him firmly. "We needs food for the nanamals!"

"An-i-mals, Hamish," Dill said absently, watching McQueen's face as they rounded the corner from the car park and he came face to face with a rather large, red, hairy creature with huge horns that was peering over the fence at him.

He stopped and stared at it, whispering to Isobel, "Look, Izzy. It's a cow… I think. Never saw a cow with horns or hair like that though."

"It's a Highland Cow," Dill told him.

"The only cows I've really seen are those black and white dairy ones," Ty told her. "But this is red. And look at all that hair!"

"Have you seen many farm animals, Ty?"

"No, not really. I mean, I've seen cows in a field, but I've not really had anything to do with 'em. Why would I?" Ty told her, smiling as Izzy reached out to stroke the cow. "I've seen stuff in books and in fields, but I've never thought, 'oh, I must go see some sheep' or anything."

"Oh, you're in for a real treat then," Dill chuckled. "This place is designed for kids, to feed and stroke and get real contact with farm animals mainly, but a few others, too."

"Like what?" he asked, as both boys started to pull at him again.

"Tell daddy what animals they have here boys," Dill chuckled.

"Piglets!" Cameron told him.

"Goatses," Hamish offered.

"Horses and rabbits…."

"And sheeps," Hamish added. "Chickens what poo!"

"Anything else you can remember?" Dill prompted.

"Ummm," Cameron thought as he walked along close to McQueen's side. "They had …"

"Wolfs!" Hamish yelled. "And reindeers like Rudolph!"

"They let kids in to stroke wolves?" Ty asked, astonished.

"No, you fool!" Dill laughed. "But they do have a 'meet the animal' session, and that's usually a wolf."

"Oh," he grinned sheepishly.

"Come on, daddy. Let's see the nanamals!" Hamish cried.

"An-i-mals, Hamish," Dill said, following them as they pulled Ty towards the entrance.

With a brief stop to buy animal feed, the boys dragged him to the playground, and by the time Dill caught up with them, Ty was already busily engrossed in digging for treasure in the huge sandpit.

"Come on, you guys. You know the rules," Dill called.

The boys sighed, and throwing down the spades they held, came over to her.

"What rules?" Ty asked, looking round to see what Isobel was up to.

"We walk around and see all the animals first. Then we sit down with a drink and a treat and decide what we'd like to do. Hamish loves the ride on the trailer around the farm. Cameron usually wants to go and do the 'meet the wolf' session. And I generally enjoy just sitting watching them all playing in the sandpit."

"And lunch, mummy. We have lunch too," Cameron said.

"But we washes our handses first, daddy," Hamish told him.

"Oh, yes. We do lots of hand washing, don't we, boys?" Dill smiled.

Glancing over at Isobel, Ty saw her hand going to her mouth. "Oh, God. What's she eating now!" he cried, sprinting over to stop her.

He came back with Izzy in his arms. She chuckled as he tickled her. "And one more bug bites the dust," he grinned. "Why does she do that? Can't you stop her?"

"Why don't you try stopping her?" Dill snapped at him. "Of course I've tried, but what am I supposed to do? Sew her mouth shut?"

Ty's face fell. "Sorry," he mumbled, hoisting Isobel back onto his shoulders and starting to walk away, following the boys as they raced up the field.

Dill reached out and grabbed his arm, pulling him back to her. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she leant up and kissed him gently on the lips. "No, I'm sorry. I don't know how to stop her, other than carrying some soap around with me and putting it in her mouth every time she eats a bug. But I really don't want to have to do that. I'm sorry, my lover. I don't want to spoil your lovely day. It's just that mother's been on my back about it too."

Letting go of Izzy with one hand, Ty pulled Dill closer to him. "I'm sorry too. I have no right to tell you how to deal with the children. You're the one raising them, not me. I just pop in and spoil 'em for a few weeks a year."

"Of course you have a right! You're their father. Just because you're not here all the time doesn't mean you don't exist to them. They never forget who their daddy is. After all, we get regular updates on how you're feeling from Cameron," she smiled.

They started to walk hand in hand after the boys, Dill having left the buggy and their lunch in the lockers provided, before going to the playground. All she carried now was a small backpack containing a nappy changing kit for Izzy, spare clothing and beakers for all three children, her camera, and her wallet.

"What'd you mean you get regular updates from Cameron?" Ty asked, keeping a firm hold with his free hand on Isobel, who was gaily pulling on his ears.

"Oh, he regularly announces over breakfast that you're happy today, or feeling sad, or maybe angry. Once or twice in the night he's come into bed with me, snuggling up close and crying because he said you had ouchies, or you were crying."

Ty stopped and stared at her. "Really? I had no idea he was doing that. That's... well, that's …."

"Scary?"

"A bit," he admitted, thinking to himself that now he had to start worrying about keeping his emotions in check all the time.

As if she'd read his mind, Dill said, "Now you'll panic about trying to keep your emotions under guard. But don't. Mostly I think it helps him to cope with you not being here, because you're always with him somehow." She grinned. "Come on, let's catch up with the boys. I know for a fact that a certain young man is desperate to show you the piglets."

"Does he really want a piglet?"

"He is totally convinced that you are going to buy him a piglet. I've told him no, but he says 'daddy will buy me one'. So, daddy, it's time to be big and bad and say no," Dill chuckled.

"Why can't he have a piglet?"

"Open your eyes and look!" she told him. "Look where the boys are. Do you see that great big, brown, muddy thing Hamish is busy scratching? That's a grown up piglet. It comes up almost to your waist, Ty. They don't stay small."

"Why does he want one?" he asked.

"Come and see," Dill chuckled, pulling him to where Cameron was cooing over a mound of sleeping piglets, their little feet kicking as they snuffled and snorted in their sleep.

"Oh, Dill!" McQueen cried. "They're so cute! Look at that tiny one Izzy - he's watching us! Look, his ears are all floppy and his nose is twitching! Can he smell us?" he crouched down, pulling Izzy off his shoulders. "Oh, guys, they're lovely, aren't they?" He reached his hand through the fence to touch one, jerking backwards as the whole group began to squeal and run away.

"Daddy, you made 'em run away!" Hamish gave him a trademark "McQueen" glare.

"His ears are floppy and his nose is twitching?" Dill laughed. "If Glen had heard you say that, you would never live it down!"

"Somehow I don't think I will anyway," Ty groaned, a blush creeping up his neck, making her laugh louder and frightening the piglets more.

"Come on, Floppy," she chortled. "There's loads more animals to see. If you thought those were cute, just you wait until you see the pygmy goat kids."

"No scaring the goatses!" Hamish told him, before haring off after Cameron, who'd run towards the goat paddock, Izzy at his heels.

Taking his hand and still snickering, Dill led Ty up the path, following the boys. They came to a large paddock, which they had to enter through a gate. They could see the boys and Izzy already inside, happily stroking the goats. Going in, McQueen started to speak, and blushing again, quickly stopped.

Dill laughed out loud, getting herself glares from all three children that only made her laugh harder. Once she could speak, she giggled, "Oh look, Ty. Look at their teeny, tiny horns, their little itty, bitty feet, and their little twitchy, twitchy ears!"

"Yes, they are cute," McQueen smiled. "I wasn't that bad."

"Oh, you were, darling," she chuckled. "But it was so sweet, and that's why I love you. Because really, though you hide it well, you're just a big 'ole softy!"

"I thought I was roughty toughty," McQueen chuckled, crouching down to stroke a tiny goat that was nuzzling him.

"Oh, you are," Dill whispered, leaning to kiss the back of his neck. "My roughty toughty marshmallow man."

"Now there's an image," he laughed.

"Oh, yes," she breathed into his ear. "You, me, some whipped cream, a packet of marshmallows, and some of that chocolate sauce that sets to a hard shell."

To her utter delight, McQueen blushed again to the tips of his ears, which Dill promptly kissed.

"Daddy?"

"Yes, Hamish?" Saved by my own sweet, adorable, lovely little guy Ty thought.

"Do you like the goatses?"

"I sure do. They're real cute. Just like mommy." Ty laughed, ducking to avoid the hand she flicked out.

"You beast!" Dill chuckled. "I'm a goat, am I? Just you wait, Floppy - I'll get you for that!"

"I can't wait," he winked at her, reaching out to cuddle Izzy, who'd come to lean against him.

"Ello, daddy!" she cried, planting a wet, sloppy kiss on his cheek.

"Hey, dumpling," Ty smiled, kissing her back, and holding her as she reached to touch the goats.

He was so absorbed in watching Izzy that he didn't notice when the boys began to giggle, or Dill started laughing. It was only when he felt a tugging on his shirt that he looked around and found one of the goats had decided his shirt would make a tasty treat. McQueen stood up hurriedly; pulling his shirt out of the goat's mouth, a look of utter disgust on his face at the state the shirt was in, wet and covered in chewed food. The boys and Dill were almost convulsed with laughter as he looked around for something, anything, to clean his shirt with. He settled on a handful of grass to clean off the worst of the sodden mess still adhering to it.

Finally taking pity on him, as all Ty managed to do was add grass stains to the mess, Dill took out the baby wipes and cleaned him up as best she could.

"I don't suppose you packed a clean set of clothes for me, did you?" he said mournfully.

"Well, as I didn't know you were going to get eaten by a goat, I'm afraid not," Dill smirked. "Oh, I wish I'd thought to take a picture. You should have seen your face!"

"Yeah, well," Ty chortled, hugging her to him, "it's you that has to walk around with me all day, stinking of goat saliva!"

"My lover, if I can deal with three stinky children, I'm sure I can cope with a stinky you too!" Dill tittered. "After all, I can wash you down later... make sure I get you all squeaky clean."

"Nanamal food, daddy?" Hamish asked. "You got the nanamal food?"

"An-i-mal food. Yes, I have it," he said, pulling it out of the thigh pocket of his shorts before crouching down again and holding out a bag each to the boys.

"Careful daddy!" Cameron yelled, as a dozen goats of varying sizes descended on him. "The goats will steal the bags!"

"Goats is greedy!" Hamish yelled, making a grab for a bag at the same time as a goat and getting shoved out of the way.

McQueen stood up swiftly, horrified to discover that was no protection. The sight of the food bags drove the goats into a feeding frenzy, and they clambered over each other and the children to reach them. Dill grabbed for Isobel as the little girl began to cry, and the boys ran back out of the way, as larger goats joined the fray.

"Daddy, is you alright?" Hamish called worriedly when a rather large Nubian goat rested its front feet on McQueen's chest.

"Yeah, I'm okay. They don't eat people, do they?" Ty asked, slightly nervous now, especially since another large goat was leaning against his back.

McQueen stood, his hands in the air clutching the feed bags, in a sea of goats in all sizes and colours, looking for all the world as though he was surrendering to them. Dill decided this was one photo opportunity not to be missed, especially as the Nubian goat most definitely had 'floppy floppy ears'. And to Ty's horror, and despite his threats of what he'd do if she did, she snapped a picture, determined that a copy of this one would make its way to the 58th. Dill knew they'd love the image of their hard nosed C.O. with a look of panic on his face as he was confronted by the goat.

"Throw the food bags away from you, Ty!" she called to him. "Just fling them away. It's the food they're after."

Doing as she said, McQueen heaved a great sigh of relief as the goats ran for the food, leaving him alone at last. Both boys ran to him, wrapping themselves around his legs.

"You okay, daddy?" Hamish asked again.

"Did they hurt you?" Cameron cried.

Reaching down to ruffle their hair, Ty grinned down at them. "No, they didn't hurt me. But I think it was a close run thing! So where next, guys? What other animals do we get to see before mommy buys us our treat?"

"The reindeers!" Hamish cried. "Come on, daddy, let's go see Rudolph!" Taking McQueen's hand, the boy began to lead him away.

"Hang on," Ty said. "Where's that Izzy? Doesn't she need a ride?"

"She's happy walking," Dill told him pointedly. "I think it must be one of the boys' turn now."

"Oh," Ty said, looking at them both beaming at him expectantly. "So who's it going to be first? I think you need to decide that sensibly before anyone gets a ride."

The boys looked at each other, and Hamish whispered, "Cameron. Let Cameron go first."

McQueen squeezed the hand he was still holding. "Hamish, you are such a big boy, letting your brother go first. I'm gonna have to let go of your hand while I pick him up though. That okay, big guy?"

At Hamish's nod, McQueen bent and hugged him before picking up Cameron and settling him on his shoulders. Taking the small boy's hand again, he smiled down at him. "Come on then, let's go see Rudolph and see if his nose really is red!"

Beaming happily, Hamish led him away, with Dill and Isobel following. Isobel happily chuckled away to herself.

On the way to the reindeer there was discussion about the names of Santa's other deer. Both boys were shocked that their daddy didn't know 'The Night Before Christmas'.

"But daddy, you muss know it!" Hamish cried.

"I do," he teased. "The night before Christmas is Christmas Eve."

"No, daddy," Cameron said from his shoulders. "Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house…."

"Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse…," Hamish continued.

"The stockings were hung on the chimney with care…," Dill added.

"In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there!" all three chorused.

McQueen shook his head. "Nope, don't know that one," he said gravely. "All I know about the night before Christmas is that it's Christmas Eve."

"Oh, Ty, surely you know it?" Dill asked. "It's probably the most famous of all Christmas stories, other than the Nativity, of course. You can't have gone twenty odd years without hearing it."

"Twenty six years," he told her.

"Twenty five and a half, if you're being picky," Dill said wryly.

McQueen turned to face her, making Cameron grip tightly to his head. "How do you know that?"

"Because a certain husband of mine refused to tell me his birthday, so when he was having his leg replaced, I peeked at his medical notes," Dill grinned impishly.

"You didn't say anything," he said with a frown.

"You obviously didn't want me to know. I was going to wait until you got up the courage to tell me. Either that, or until you came home for Christmas. We could have had a double celebration," she smiled. "Don't worry, I wasn't going to shout it from the rooftops. Does Glen know? Or the 58th?"

"The 58th, definitely not. Glen, I don't know. I've never told him, so unless he's done what you did - and I wouldn't put it past him - no," Ty said resignedly. "At least he's not said anything to me anyway. Do you know what I went through to make sure it wasn't included in the version of my service record that's open to public viewing?"

"I can imagine," Dill chuckled. "Oh, you got lucky with your name, that's for sure!"

"Oh yes," McQueen laughed. "Ever since I learned about the significance of the day, I've been happy to be Tyrus."

"Well, I think Tyrus is a lovely name," she smiled, hugging him. "And it suits you perfectly. Come on - let's go see if Donner and Blitzen are keeping Rudolph company today."

They spent time admiring the reindeer, trying to decide who was who. Surely Vixen was a girl and wouldn't have antlers, Ty had argued, only to have Dill laugh and tell him that all reindeer had antlers. After the reindeer, came the ice creams, all three children studiously washing their hands at one of the many well placed sinks first. Dill casually reminded Ty that he needed to wash his hands too. Then the children had pony rides around a small paddock, while Dill and Ty sat with a coffee, waving at them as they passed. Ty had been totally bemused by the sight of the tiny Shetland ponies. He'd always thought horses and ponies came in one size only. Dill had shaken her head and smiled at him, reaching out to squeeze his hand, realising that this trip was turning into a real eye-opener for him.

After the pony rides Dill had insisted they walk back through the paddocks and fields to the children's play area, where they could sit at a picnic table and eat their lunch. The walk back had been Hamish's turn for a ride from his daddy, and the little boy had been so excited that McQueen was concerned he'd wet himself. A small ruckus had ensued when he'd asked Hamish to go to the toilet first. Hamish had been adamant that he didn't need to go, even when Dill pointed out that they would all go, as Izzy had definitely spooged. Cameron and daddy would pee too while she changed Izzy. Hamish had flung himself to the ground, crying and flailing about, while Cameron had stood and watched, thumb in mouth. Finally McQueen had told him that if he didn't even try to have a pee then Izzy would get the ride instead. Recovering almost immediately from his outburst, Hamish had practically run all the way to the toilets and to McQueen's amusement, had indeed been in what looked like desperate need of a pee.

Lunch had turned into a relaxed and casual affair as soon as Ty'd decided that instead of using a table they'd put down the blanket Dill had brought along and picnic on that. The children had gone from the blanket to the playground and back again innumerable times, and now, with the boys playing leisurely in the sandpit, Ty was lying stretched out on his back with Izzy asleep on his chest.

Dill lay stretched out on her stomach beside him, one hand resting on her chin, the other idly playing with his hair. "So tell me," she asked quietly, "how was it you were decanted on Christmas day?"

Ty looked up into her eyes smiling down at him. "They had a deadline to meet. If they'd missed the wormhole they would have missed their deadline and lost their bonus. Simple as that," he sighed. "So it was in early, decant a few dozen tanks, ship 'em out straightaway, and home in time for Christmas lunch."

"That's awful," Dill whispered, bending to kiss his forehead. "Didn't you get any education at all? I've noticed how much they shove that down peoples' throats. 'All our invitro facilities offer an excellent educational programme'."

"On the ship out we got the basics... how to write our name and to read what Aerotech wanted us to read. But that was it. The only other education we got you really don't want to hear about."

"Oh baby, I'm so sorry." Dill kissed him again, this time on the lips.

"You don't need to be sorry," Ty smiled at her. "I survived, and look at me now. I have you, the children, a real home, and friends I care about. What more could an ill educated tank want?"

"Don't Ty. You know I hate it when you talk like that." At his raised eyebrows, she grimaced. "I know you're going to say 'but it's true', but I still don't like to hear you running yourself down like that. You know how proud I am of you - of what you've achieved in your life. You're not ill educated, not any more. You educated yourself, and you know so much about so many things sometimes you just amaze me."

"Don't know much about nanamals though, do I?" he grinned. "You know one of these days one of us is going to have to teach that boy to speak properly."

"When this damn war is over and you come home to us, then you can do it," Dill smiled sadly. "Six years, Ty... has it really been six long years?"

"It has indeed," Ty agreed. "And for most of it my heart has been yours."

"Oh Ty," she whispered her eyes filling with tears," I miss you so much when you're gone."

He reached up a hand to stroke her face. "I miss you too, my little elf," he whispered, pulling her head down so that he could kiss her. "I miss you more than I can say."

"Stop it," Dill murmured softly. "I'm going to cry, and that would ruin today. It's been perfect so far. The children have enjoyed showing you the animals, and I've had such a good time seeing you enjoying yourself. If I cry now, that's everything ruined."

"You silly elf," Ty chuckled. "It would make my day complete, knowing I can make you cry just by telling you I miss you."

"Meanie," Dill smiled. She turned her head away, looking towards the boys. "Look," she told him. "Would you look at that!"

Turning his head, Ty began to laugh, and Dill gently took Izzy off his chest before he woke her. Hamish was sitting in the sand pit propped up by the spade he'd been digging with. It was the only thing stopping him from falling into the sand as he snored softly. Cameron was laid flat out with his thumb firmly in his mouth.

"I think we have two exhausted little guys," he chuckled, getting up and going to gently take Hamish in his arms, and returning with him and laying him on the blanket.

As he laid Cameron down next to him, both boys turned and wrapped their arms around each other. McQueen looked at Dill, a smile on his face. "Now that you have to get a picture of."

"I often find them snuggled up in bed together in the mornings," she told him as she rummaged for her camera. "It must be a twin thing."

"Or an invitro thing," Ty told her softly, sitting down next to her and hugging her to him. "On the ship taking us to Omicron we often slept like that. We had beds, but we put our blankets on the floor and huddled together for comfort. Kinda like those piglets, I guess. When we got there they forced us into our own beds. Anyone found in bed with someone else got beaten. They thought it was about sex, but it wasn't. We just needed to feel someone holding us. We were far too tired to think about sex."

"Is that why you suckle yourself to sleep?" Dill asked, nestling in his arms.

"Possibly, though I never did it until I met you. Amy would never have allowed it. When I think about it, there's an awful lot Amy never allowed," Ty sighed. "I'm so glad I have you now." He glanced around at the other families - mothers with their children, and an occasional father - then looked back at his three sleeping children. "I wish we weren't in such an open place, Dill. What I'd really like to do is make love to you, right here and right now."

"So if we were someplace else, you would, even though the children are lying right there?" Dill chuckled.

"Oh yeah," he grinned, kissing her neck. "We'd take it nice and slow... soft and gentle. And if the kids woke up, we'd tell 'em to go play while daddy made mommy feel real good."

"Traumatise them for life, more like!" Dill giggled.

"Cameron doesn't seem too traumatised after watching you suck me off," Ty said softly.

"Oh no. He just obsessed about how he could keep happy by playing with himself while you were away," she told him. "He became so obsessed that I had to tell him that playing with his penis was fine, but that he wasn't to do it anywhere but in his bedroom. To which he told me that I'd played with yours in the living room."

"What did you say?"

"What could I say? I told him the truth. I said that was because I was being very naughty, and that normally we played with each other in our bedroom."

McQueen chuckled. "So he doesn't know about the blanket in the garden then?"

"No, thank goodness. I dread to think what he'd say," she smiled.

McQueen lay back, pulling Dill down with him for a cuddle.

"Don't you start anything, Ty. We're already getting enough attention because of the state of your face. I don't want us banned from here because you got too frisky!" she giggled, as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her.

"What do you take me for?" McQueen whispered gleefully, "an exhibitionist? Anyway, as I recall it was you who decided to do it in public last time."

"Ty!" Dill exclaimed, sitting herself back up. "You beast! We were hardly in public. And you practically begged me to!"

"We got caught, didn't we?" he grinned, remembering clearly the incident on the boat. "How much more public can you get?"

"Er… here, Ty. This is far more public. And there are children everywhere. That's why I don't want you even pretending to get frisky. Not everyone is quite so relaxed about it as we are, you know!" she told him.

"If anyone on the 'Toga heard you say that, they'd die of shock," Ty smiled. "They don't believe I know how to relax."

"Good job I took a picture of you laying there with Izzy then," she told him, smiling. "Shall I get it made up into a poster they can hang on the wall of the Tun, as proof?"

"Don't you dare" Ty smiled lazily. "Just come back down here and give me a cuddle."

"Sir, yes, sir," Dill giggled, lying herself back in his arms, her back against his chest.

"That's it, marine. Know your place," he smiled as he wrapped his arms around her.

"I know my place," she whispered. "Here in your arms, always."

After a few minutes, when he'd not said a word, Dill twisted her head around to look at him. "Ty? Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Ty whispered as he buried his face in her neck. "I'm so happy, Dill, that I keep wondering when I'm going to wake up. Something terrible's going to happen, and I'm going to lose you. I know it."

"Stop that right now," Dill told him. "Nothing is going to happen. Look what we've been through, and we're still here. Now kiss me before the children wake up."

"Yes, Dill," Ty whispered, doing exactly as she asked.

Once the children had woken up, they did the things that had been promised, including a trailer ride for Hamish, during which the bugs that Isobel had eaten during the day made a reappearance all over her father as she sat on his lap waving at the animals they passed.

'Meet the Wolf' was a treat for Cameron, astounding McQueen when he saw just how friendly the wolf was. He'd been unsure whether to let any of his children near it. After all, everyone knew just how vicious and nasty wolves were, didn't they? Dill had smiled at him and pointed out that this particular wolf had been born in captivity and was hand raised, so it was as friendly as a domesticated dog. He still hadn't been happy, pointing out that dogs bite. But it was the disappointed faces of the little guys that finally made him give in and allow them to go to the front and stroke the wolf. Isobel remained firmly on Dill's lap while McQueen watched, prepared at any moment to go to the rescue of his boys.

After that came Isobel's trip to the rabbits, where, though he tried to hide it, McQueen enjoyed himself holding the rabbits for Isobel to stroke. Dill watched it all, smiling to herself at how he let his guard down and got just as excited as the children at the sight of a mother rabbit and her babies, especially when they hopped around his feet.

It was with a contented sigh that she sat back in her seat after having packed the remains of their lunch and Isobel's buggy in the back of the range rover, and strapped the children all safely into their car seats.

Looking across at him as he prepared to drive them home, Dill grinned. "I think it's time we changed the number plates. We're MCQ X5 now."

"The way you breed I'm surprised we're not MCQ X8 or 9!" Ty smiled back at her.

"You know you'd love it," she chuckled. "A horde of children fighting each other to get your attention."

"Sounds like the 58th," Ty laughed. "We have to make a stop on the way home, Dill. Is that alright?"

"You're driving," Dill told him. "I'm just going to sit here and nod off like the children."

Glancing at her a little while later, Ty saw she'd done exactly that.