SNOWSWEPT

by CuddleFae

Dr. Lauren Lewis has been assigned to oversee the opening of a new hospital. Overwhelmed by all there is to know and learn in an unfamiliar land, she crosses paths with a mysterious woman with a dark past - a past that has caused her to live by one rule. Trust no one. Thrown into a desperate struggle, can they overcome the barriers between them in their fight to survive?

20. Chapter 20: Family Time

A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks for sharing your quarantine life! Special thanks to all of you essential workers for doing the work you do! As some of you know, I work with at-risk teens. It's tough right now as many of them are quarantined in the very places they do not feel safe. Needless to say, it's hard to support them virtually. So, if more than a little angst slides into this story, it's probably just frustration. Be well and enjoy some more time at the homestead. Some of you have told me you like Rudy, Elise and Janie. This chapter is more of a "day in the life". I'll get some time with our little trio in the near future. Enjoy!

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Chapter 20: Family Time

Clinic, Talkeetna

"Easy there, my lover. Where do you think you're going?" Lauren asked Bo.

She went to pull out her I.V., but Lauren covered her hand, "I said… where do you think you're going?"

"I don't need this, Lauren. I'm fine."

"Do you want to sleep on the couch for the next month?" Lauren asked, releasing Bo to plant her hands firmly on her hips

Bo released the tube, "Oh, come on! That's not fair."

"It's the only leverage I have when I'm trying to treat you since you never listen to doctor's orders."

"I do too!"

"No, Bo. You really don't and frankly, it's disrespectful…and, and… annoying! I hate that you don't respect my opinion enough to just do what I ask you to do. It's like dealing with a small child when I have to beg you to do what my medical training tells me what is important for you to do. If you want to get up and go, then go but it will be against doctors' orders and I will be incredibly angry with you… and before you ask, yes to the point that I will probably stay in my apartment upstairs for the week."

"Too bad it's not vacant." Bo chuckled.

"Patrick and Penelope are snowed in at the Dal. Shirley gave everyone rooms for the night."

"Snowed in?"

"You were out in a blizzard, Bo. Where you went and what you were doing with that Amelia woman I still don't know and I'm still guessing as to how you got these wounds. I hate to sound like a movie cliché, but your ego is writing checks that your body can't cash! Sooner or later, you're going to lose, and it terrifies me."

Bo sat quietly for a moment, her head turning to look up at the window to see them covered in snow and ice. She struggled to remember when it started to snow,

"It was snowing when I left the bar with that woman." She concluded, now recalling bits and pieces of the night, "I took her out into the woods. I wanted her to see the real Alaska… to know there is much more to our people than bars and sex. I just… I don't really know what I was doing. I remember that I wanted to beat the shit out of her for what she said to you, but I decided I needed to do something – more constructive - instead. So, I did what I used to do with Big Jim's men when they would come after me one-on-one. I would teach them something about how I lived… the hard way. I'd lead them out into the wilderness and then lose them… just to get them scared enough to back off. I'd stay in the shadows to make sure they were safe. It usually worked…"

Lauren nodded, coming to sit on the rolling stool next to Bo's bed, "So you entered the woods… then what?"

"We walked for a while. I didn't talk to her… I was just… so angry. She kept asking where we were going and I was getting really annoyed. She told me she was scared and… and I said… good… that maybe now she understood how women might feel when she talked to them the way she talked to you."

"I wasn't scared, Bo. I was pissed." Lauren replied.

Bo shook her head, "I know and so was I, but I thought of women who aren't strong like you. I thought how scared they might be of a woman of her size… if they didn't have your reflexes and will… if they couldn't defend themselves. I just couldn't stop thinking of just how handsy she might get. Don't you think?"

"I don't know." Lauren replied, honestly.

"Yea, I guess I don't either but at the time, I felt this…need… to find out just who she was. I don't know why and I know it sounds crazy, but I thought of Rudy, Elise… Janie too. I just… I felt a need to find out on behalf of all women." She shook her head, "That sounds even more ridiculous when I saw it out loud."

Lauren shook her head, "Bo, you can't fight every battle for everyone on earth."

"I'm not. I just fight the battles that choose me."

Lauren nodded, "Choose you?"

"Yes!" Bo replied, scowling, "Don't you understand? You just… you just don't see me, Lauren."

Bo began to roll over on to her side, but the I.V. tube stopped her half way. She turned her head so that Lauren wouldn't see her tears. She was turning into such a sap! She needed a good month out in the woods to toughin' up again.

Lauren came around the bed and looked at Bo, "I see you. What I don't see is you going crazy over a woman who was drunk and a little overzealous." She saw Bo cock her head and sighed, "Okay, so she was a little too forward…"

"Forward? You sound like you were raised in the dark ages. She was coming on to you and putting her hands on you… my fiancé!"

Lauren nodded, knowing that jealous Bo was rearing her head, so she decided to change the course of the conversation,

"Bo…"

"No, Lauren. I mean it. We got into this relationship and jumped right into living our lives side-by-side, day in, day out but I really don't think you see me… the real me. I don't think you really understand who I am. I mean… how could you? You only know the beginning and most recent part of my life. I've never filled in the nasty bits in between. You've never lived off grid. You think that I am the sum of my Father's abuse and the abandonment issues I have with my Mom but there's a whole part of my life that was just me – on my own. Most of the time I lived on my own with the dogs in the wilderness, but eventually over all of those years, I needed supplies and had to go into the towns."

Bo rolled onto her back, feeling Lauren's eyes on her. Usually it felt warm, but right now, the doctor was in and she felt analyzed like something under one of her microscopes. She love her fiancé, but sometimes she wished she was… a lumberjack. She continued,

"Usually, I would meet a few nice people who – despite the rumors, the stories and my less-than-friendly demeanor, traded with me, bought my skins and fish… were almost kind to me. But ultimately, I would witness the man being a little too rough with his wife, the group of men who would try to take me against my will or the guy who was just plain violent. I never saw that in the wild. You never see a bear brutalizing their mate or his cubs, you never see an Eagle diving down to peck out another birds' eyes just for the hell of it. Humans are more animals than animals are… if that makes any sense."

"But Bo, that doesn't mean every person in a bar is a rapist or serial killer."

"I didn't say they were, Lauren! You see? Even when I try to explain my point of view, I'm wrong in your eyes."

"Bo, I don't think you're wrong. I just think you lack experience with people."

The brunette chuckled, shaking her head, "Right. Your own personal Crocodile Dundee. I know the movie and I know that he comes off as an idiot in the movie. But you're right. He and I are very similar, but you know what? He was right about those men. He was right that they were bad and they were out to hurt the woman he loved. She blew it off. She didn't see the signs like he did and in the end, he had to save her. You don't see the world like I do, Lauren and you never will. It's funny, because after everything you've seen over the past year, I'd think you would realize there are some very bad people out there and not to take your chances with those who are… overzealous?"

Bo propped herself up on her elbows and looked at Lauren, "Tell me something. The very first day you walked into Big Jon's General Store, did you think Big Jim was a bad man?"

"Bo…"

"No, really, Lauren. Take a minute and think back to that day. Compare what you thought of him and what you thought when I came into the store. Who was the bad guy?"

Lauren took a minute, thinking back, though she really didn't need to. The moment played over and over in her mind, the voices of those in the room coming back to her until she realized that Jon, Dyson and Tosh were actually the first indication she had that Bo might be bad. When the visitors started the argument, Bo was clearly defending the store personnel, but she still saw her as dangerous in comparison to Big Jim.

"I suppose your silence tells me everything I have to know. I can recognize the creeps, Lauren. You – like most of humanity – judge people by their appearance. My skin isn't as white, my hair is dark, my eyes are dark, everything I wear is black or brown… I spent most of my life on high alert because there was always something – man or animal – waiting to prey on me if I wasn't aware of what I was doing. I'm sorry if you think I overreact, but please realize… I'm basically an 8-month old when it comes to living around people."

Lauren started to speak but stopped herself as a wave of awareness hit her, "Wow. I never… I've never seen you that way. I mean… I guess you're right. All this time, I thought I knew you, but in reality, I knew the you I wanted you to be… hoped you would be." She shook her head, "I'm no better than Nadia."

"Lauren, I wouldn't go that far…"

"No, Bo. You're right. Your anger, your stubborn streak, your impulsiveness, your need to defend and protect me as you do your dogs and anyone else you love... they're all a part of you – of the life you once lived in order to survive. I have always thought of them as faults – of weaknesses. Well, they may be characteristics that people aren't particularly fond of in modern society, but for you they were a necessary strength for your daily life,"

She looked up at Bo, "And all I've done is judge you – demand you stop being angry, stubborn, and impulsive. Demand that you stop playing the protector. But – it's who you are – and all of that was part of who you were when I fell in love with you." She chuckled, "For someone who believes people should live and let live, I'm quite the hypocrite, huh? How could I possibly ask you to change for me?"

"It's okay, Lauren."

"No, Bo. It's not. You just go right on being you and I'll try to be a little more accepting. But, I will not stand by and allow you to put yourself in danger by not following doctors' orders, Bo. You have people who love you counting on your to stay alive. You have to think about your Mom, Rudy, your family, your dogs, your friends… and the woman you plan to marry."

Bo nodded.

"So you'll be staying in bed and when I allow you to start moving around, you will not be driving a sled or lifting…"

"But…"

"No! No arguments. Bo, that bear sliced through some of your muscle tissue so unless you want to lose the use of your hands, you need to listen to me. You'll be in those bandages and braces for two weeks. Once the wounds heal, you'll be in the braces for another 2-3 weeks longer. Maybe during that time, you go discuss this incident with your friend Doctor Gray and process any changes you both believe should be made."

"I'm sorry…"

Lauren shook her head, "It's okay, Bo. Now, what happened next? You were saying you were going to teach her something."

Bo took a moment to gather her thoughts and then began again,

"I took her down to the lake…" She shook her head, "I don't know what happened. I'm not usually caught off guard. It wasn't snowing hard and then all of a sudden, it was. It was darn near a white out. No goggles, no mask. I was cold. I'm never cold. I remember looking up to check on the skies and… well, I was shocked when it was pure white… and dark. I knew right away what was happening. It was more than just a squall. I think it was a microburst or cold vortex. I'm not sure. I've just… I've never seen anything like it."

She shook her head, "I told her that we needed to find shelter – that what was coming was going to be bad – really bad, but she insisted on trying to go back towards the bar. I told her that I'd lived here all my life… that she was better off listening to me… that sudden bad weather was a sign of bad snow and sub-zero temperatures to come. I tried to tell her that it was going to be impossible to see anything and if she didn't stay with me she would get lost and freeze to death. I told her that there was a cave nearby but she pulled away from me, turned and ran, telling me I was crazy. That's when I saw the cub. I tried to stop her, but she was running right for it."

"Cub? As in bear cub?" Lauren asked.

Bo closed her eyes, her hand running over the bandage and brace on her left arm, "The mom came out of the trees, already standing on her hind legs. Amelia tried to run, the bear chased her, swatting her paw across her back. She screamed, the bear reared up, so I rushed it, screaming and waving, hoping to draw it towards me."

Bo chuckled, "She came at me, alright. I barely got my hands up. I blocked the first swipe with my forearms, ducked under her legs, ran to Amelia and dragged her ass into the lake. I told her to take a breath and pulled her with me underwater hoping the bear would lose our scent because of all of the snow. When we couldn't hold our breath any longer, we came up for air and the bears were gone. Amelia was in bad shape and her back was bleeding, so I ripped open her shirt and started dragging her through the snow, knowing the cold would slow the bleeding, numb the pain and help prevent infection."

She laid back, shaking her head, "I noticed blood on her chest, so stopped to see if the bear had gotten her somewhere else. That's when I realized it was my blood. I pulled off my shirt and undershirt so I could use them to wrap my arms, then pulled my jacket back on and started dragging her again. By then, the weather had gotten worse. I couldn't see a damn thing. I stopped, thinking… well, it's September… snow doesn't usually last long. I found a cluster of trees and tried to sit out the storm, but then I realized it was just getting deeper, so I headed out again."

She looked up at Lauren, "It got cold. Really, really cold. I started getting confused and knew I was in trouble. I tried to pull out my phone, but couldn't find it… or maybe I didn't actually look for it… like I said, I was confused. I just decided to head towards the road, hoping I was near the bar and… well… I guess I got it right because... well, you found me."

Lauren nodded, "Okay. Well, I have to go back and check on Amelia. I'd really like you to stay on that drip and under those warm blankets for a few more hours. We're not going anywhere right now anyway. Kurt barely got us here. I'm not going to make him fly again unless someone's dying."

"Was I dying?" Bo asked.

Lauren shrugged, "I treated you both for hypothermia, frostbite, infection prevention and mended your wounds once the frostbite was handled. Amelia is worse off than you… her wounds are deeper her hypothermia was worse."

"Well, I was moving, she was being dragged through the snow, so that makes sense."

Lauren nodded, "Yes, but you were both in a great deal of danger which is why I called Kurt. We weren't going to get here by truck, and no one had a snow machine fueled, winterized and ready to go."

"This one caught us by surprise." Bo replied.

Lauren nodded, "That's what Kurt said."

Bo looked up at the frozen windows of the clinic, "This is a rare occurrence for September. Sure we've had snow, but if those windows are any indication of what's out there, this almost never happens this early."

Lauren nodded, reaching up to check Bo's I.V. and her vitals. The brunette started to move to her elbows, but winced in pain when her arms hit the bed. She laid back down deciding that following doctor's orders right now would not only be a good idea, but may also assure her relationship would continue on until her next stupid stunt. She really needed to cool it on the impulsivity. She looked up at Lauren, her heart swelling in the moment that she saw her beautiful doctor against the backdrop of a single ray of sunlight. The curtain of hair that hung off her shoulder glowed like gold as her eyes wandered over the readout on the monitors.

"You… you look like an angel."

Lauren looked up from the chart to see her fiancé staring at her, "I suppose that hypothermia was worse than I thought."

Bo shrugged, "Lauren, I promise I'll stay put. You can go check on Amelia."

The blonde stood, shoving her hands into the pockets of her lab coat. She gave Bo a nod and turned to walk away, but Bo called to her,

"I'm sorry for being a pain in the ass patient." She spoke quietly, "You're right to be upset with me."

"Angry with you. I'm angry with you. There's a difference."

Bo nodded, "Okay, you're right to be angry with me. I'm sorry."

Lauren nodded and turned to walk away, but stopped again walking back to Bo's bedside,

"I'm sure I'm going to say this wrong, but I'm going to try anyway. If you get mad, I don't care. I just have to say this."

"Okay." Bo said, patting the bed beside her, but Lauren shook her head, keeping her distance as she continued,

"We're going to be married, so I think I have a right to say this. You may not change your behavior, but I'm hoping you'll at least think before you act if I say what's on my mind right now."

"O… kay." Bo hesitated.

Lauren took a deep breath, her eyes down as she used her hands for emphasis,

"When you run the Iditarod or go out for training runs, you have a team double checking all of your equipment and the forecasts. You all work together to decide on the routes you should run and the distance you'll cover in each run. Sure, you're the mastermind and I know – at times – you're going to be reckless. It's who you are and it's how you've lived your whole life. I know that I can't change that, but I hope someday you'll start to recognize that you lived that way for all of those years because you were alone. You're not alone anymore, Bo."

"Lauren…"

"No, Bo. I need you to listen." She said, not skipping a beat as she continued, "I know that your team has and always will be there for you and I also know that now more than ever they will at least try to talk you out of doing anything that could get you killed."

Bo nodded, "You're saying you want me to stop racing?"

Lauren shook her head, "No, of course not. It's who you are – who you've always been and I would never want you to stop doing something that clearly brings you so much joy. Hell, I love sledding. I may not be as good, but I certainly understand the challenge and the thrill. The playful nature of our dogs just make it even better."

She didn't want to say the wrong thing, so she stopped to consider her words before she continued,

"I'm saying that when you train or run a race, you're taking what we refer to as an educated risk… you have the training and expertise to minimize the risks to you and your dogs. I watched you through the Iditarod and admired how you handled yourself – even when there were a pack of murderers after you. I never saw you stop considering the risks. It was like you measured every inch before you covered it."

Lauren frowned, "But when you do things like what you did with Amelia, you throw all caution to the wind and just let your anger take the lead… it's just a flat-out stupid risk. It's like – in that moment - you are so overcome with emotion that you don't think about whether or not you will live or die – it's like you couldn't care less if you die or not and that, Bo, is unacceptable to me. It's unacceptable because as my future wife, you need to stay alive… if not for your family, your dogs or yourself, then for me, Bo – because I have no intention of walking down the aisle to say till death do us part if you plan to die the day before or after our wedding. What would be the point of a life together?"

The brunette started to interrupt, but Lauren waved both hands at her,

"No, Bo. I know you're going to say you aren't going to die, but people die out there every day. Today was just dumb luck. You didn't even get your knife out of its sheath and if you had lost, we would have been left to wonder for the rest of our lives what had happened to you because you would have been a meal! A meal, Bo - as in nothing left for us to find!"

Lauren waved her hands over her head, "And saying it out loud makes it so much worse. I just… I can't talk about this anymore. I can't hear your promises anymore. You have to start thinking about what you do before you do it… for me, for the dogs, for our friends and family… for that little sister of yours. You're not alone anymore, Bo. You have to stop acting like you are or I might as well go back to Boston."

The doctor turned and walked out of the room, closing the door to Bo's room behind her. Bo looked up at the I.V., noting there was still a half a bag left until Lauren would come back. Actually, at this point, she would probably send in a nurse… probably Shannon so she could have her say.

Bo sighed, staring out at the white sky, the ray of sunlight now gone. She shook her head and looked down at her arms. She could feel that the cuts were deep. She remembered the sting of the claws grazing the meat of her flesh when she lifted her arms to protect her face and throat. Lauren was right… she got lucky and when she thought about why she was out there to begin with, it sickened her. There was no reason for her to have taken Amelia outside. Lauren had handled it. There was no reason for her to step in. One thing she'd learned in the first month of knowing the doctor was that she could handle herself and had a mind of her own. She didn't need Bo to fight her battles or defend her honor.

She sighed, settling back onto the pillow and closing her eyes. Lauren was right. She acted impulsively again and that needed to stop. It was time to restart her sessions with Dr. Gray. If she was going to live among humans, she needed to learn how to act like one.

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One Month Later, Anchorage

"You know, you really didn't have to come in to help me harvest my vegetables." Dr. Gray smiled as she helped Bo bag the last of her potatoes for storage.

Bo shrugged, "It's the least I can do for all you do for me."

"I do my job, child."

Bo laughed, hauling the sack over her shoulder, wincing slightly when the bag rubbed up against the still raw scar tissue on her forearms. She'd better cover them again. Lauren would be pissed if the wounds opened up again.

"Me and my past are big problems, so you're doing twice as much as you do with normal patients."

Dr. Gray let out a chuckle, "I can't disagree with you there but for someone who was left alone by the adults in her life and forced into the wild on her own until just a year ago, you are quite normal by standard definitions."

Bo dropped the bag, adjusting the compression sleeves she was now forced to wear on her limbs, "Then why do I feel like such a hot mess. Come on, Doc… I'm far from normal."

The woman sat back on the windowsill of the greenhouse, "Rather than compare yourself to what you perceive to be the norm, why not think of how much closer to the norm you are now than you were a year ago?"

Bo nodded, pulling the gloves off of her hands, "Look back at the path I've walked rather than compare myself to the world around me."

Faith shook her head, "Not the world around you but the people around you."

She waved Bo to the chair in the corner, "Come. Sit for a moment."

Standing, she moved to the small table where she had made a fresh pitcher of lemonade, "We still need to get our fill of citrus before winter."

Bo accepted the glass, watching as the doctor sat in the well-worn chair by the only clear pane of glass in the structure. Faith looked out at the fading greenery as she spoke,

"I believe that you are still trying to live up to some manufactured standard you have set for yourself that would – in your mind – make you good enough for your beloved."

"No! Not at all." Bo denied emphatically.

Faith shrugged, "Then why push back the wedding to spring? You came to see me after your injury last month and told me that as a child, you had always imagined a winter wedding because you always loved the deep, soft snow of the south during winter."

Bo shrugged, "The North Slope was mostly ice growing up. It was rare that we had a deep snow that I could play in before it froze and became a part of the tundra."

"So if that is truly what you wanted… and clearly what Lauren wanted… why back up the wedding to spring?"

"My training for the Iditarod…" Bo began, but Faith knew there would be excuses,

"Bo, stop it. You can lie to yourself, but you can't lie to an old musher like me. You could take a weekend if you wanted to. You have LJ, your Mother and that young boy Hank who are all more than capable of taking your dogs for runs. From what you tell me, the twins are great with the young dogs in the training yard you've built, so what's the issue?"

"I…"

Faith shook her head, "Nope. I'm not hearing any excuses. I want a real reason. You came to me after your injury telling me that you wanted to stop being impulsive and reckless. The anger we were already working on."

"Backing up a wedding is neither of those. You shouldn't rush into marriage."

"Having doubts about marrying Lauren?" Faith cornered, challenging Bo's fears.

"What?" Bo asked, shocked by the question, "No, of course not!"

"Then why not run home and marry her right now?"

"It would be impulsive." Bo replied.

Faith grinned, closing her eyes, "Hmmm… I think it would be romantic. The love of Lauren's life sweeping her up in her arms and carrying her to the basket of her sled filled with the final blooms of the season to take her to her wedding spot by the river of the home they will share for the rest of their lives."

Bo shrugged, "I guess."

The brunette thought for a long moment before she looked up at Faith and asked, "Why do you think that postponing the wedding is impulsive and reckless? Isn't slowing down and making informed decisions what I'm trying to do before I act?"

"But you're not a robot, Ysabeau! When you said yes to Lauren, you already made the informed decision to marry her." She smiled, "The decision is made – what's the difference if it's sooner or later? People wait to be married because they're having a big wedding that needs to be planned. There's the venue that's not available for months, the caterer has to be available, the food has to be picked, the honeymoon has to be planned, the invitations have to go out, the guest list has to be made… of course, that list isn't in any specific order."

Faith sipped her lemonade, laughing at herself, "You and Lauren don't want any of those things. You've said you both agreed that you just want a simple family picnic by the river at your house. You said that dogs will provide the music."

Bo grinned, "I guess I did say all of that."

The doctor nodded, "You have everything that needs to be planned, planned. Suddenly, you slam on the brakes… impulsive."

Bo's mouth dropped open as she recognized the behavior, "Oh God. I didn't…"

Faith nodded.

"Dammit." Bo said, shaking her head.

"With the sudden change of heart, you may have instilled some doubt in Lauren's mind as to whether or not you want to marry her. I mean… everything was going along so smoothly with your plans, then suddenly, you do a one-eighty. I'd think this might be putting some strain on your relationship. Have you noticed anything lately in your relationship with Lauren?"

Bo shook her head, "She's been very quiet… and distant. I mean… she doesn't initiate contact… or conversation for that matter."

"And why do you think that is?"

"She's waiting for me to decide."

Faith nodded, "And what have you to decide?"

Bo shook her head, "Absolutely nothing. I love her. I want her. I want to marry her. I want a life with her. I want to be there for her. I want to be more careful for her. I want to stay alive for her. I don't ever want her to have to worry again… though I know she will."

Faith sat up in her chair with some effort. Reaching out, she covered Bo's hand, "Gladly… because she'll never ask you to stop doing the things you do that bring her cause for worry."

"Racing."

Doctor Gray nodded, "Exactly. She would never ask you to stop racing."

"Did she tell you that?" Bo asked.

Doctor Gray shook her head, "Bo, you know that I can't speak with you about…"

"Doctor-Patient privilege. I know." Bo sighed, "I'm just glad that she's seeing you now too."

"Are you?" Faith asked.

Bo nodded, "I am."

She stood, pacing the room as she continued, taking an occasional sip from the cool citrus beverage,

"Honestly Doc, I've been worried about her making this move. You and I both know living here is a hard life. She says she chose this place because she loves it here, but I have this nagging voice in the back of my mind that worries she made this choice for me."

"You're afraid she'll come to resent you?" Faith asked.

Bo shrugged, "I guess part of me is – especially if I don't change my impulsive and reckless ways."

"So you think Lauren's love for you is conditional?"

Turning to face her doctor, Bo pondered the question for a long moment, "I suppose I think it may be. She gets so angry with me when I put my life in danger."

Faith laughed, "And you don't think that's simply human nature? If the roles were reversed, wouldn't you feel the same?"

Bo laughed, "Lauren is too smart to put herself in the situations I put myself in."

The doctor cocked her head, "So you're not smart?"

"Not smart like Lauren. She's… well, she's brilliant."

Faith smirked, "I'd like you to think back to the story you told me about Lauren's first sled ride."

Bo laughed, "I think I fell in love with her that night."

"I believe that the first time you told me that story, you didn't mention falling in love." She offered a knowing grin, "You stated you felt anger that she put herself in harm's way and risked death rather than listen to your advice."

Bo considered the statement, recognizing quickly that the doctor was, once again, correct, "I suppose that's how I know I fell for her that night. My chest hurt at the thought of losing her. I may have described it as anger, but in truth, I was terrified of a life without her."

The doctor smiled, "I'm pleased that you're able to differentiate your emotions now. It shows tremendous growth, Bo."

The brunette smiled, "Wow. A compliment."

Faith shrugged, "I am capable of them… occasionally."

Bo smirked, "You're a tough old broad."

"Damn right. And I'll be a tough old broad all the way to the grave."

"Good for you." Bo smiled.

"Let's get the rest of these peaches jarred, shall we?"

Bo nodded, "Do you think we need to check on that young guy you have dealing with the fish?"

The doctor smiled, "He's sweet on my granddaughter, so I think he'll be staying until the job is finished in hopes of her saying yes to a dinner date."

"Your shingle should say matchmaker instead of personal counseling services."

Faith shrugged, "I've lived a long life and developed many skills. There isn't a shingle big enough to list them all."

The pair chuckled.

"Well, I just hope he doesn't cut his finger off. He was spending more time gawking at your granddaughter than watching out for his limbs." Bo laughed, pulling out a box of jars and following Faith into the house.

"I seem to recall a certain brunette who couldn't keep her eyes off of a beautiful blonde doctor just last week during couples counseling."

Bo shrugged, "I have no shame. My fiancé is beautiful, brilliant and the most amazing woman on the planet. What's not to stare at, I say."

"Fair enough."

Bo's phone rang, causing her to cringe, "Sorry. I know there's no phones during appointments."

Faith laughed, "Our appointment ended hours ago, Bo."

Checking her watch, the brunette's eyes went wide, "Shit."

She looked down at her phone, seeing that it was Lauren calling, "Dammit. It's Lauren."

"Late again?"

"I was supposed to call her."

Bo picked up the phone, "Hello?"

Faith shook her head, chuckling when she heard Lauren's voice echo out of the phone even though she wasn't on speaker. She watched Bo's face redden as she explained that she was helping Faith with her harvest.

Faith smiled at the sound of brunette speaking tender reassurances to her fiancé that she was okay, clearly calming down with the doctor on the other end of the call.

The older woman took the jars, one at a time and set them in the water to sterilize them. She loved making her own jams and Bo had been excited to be with her for this process. She could delay if Lauren needed her home, so she moved to the flowers she'd set to dry to make her winter potpourri until Bo was off of the phone.

"Grandmother?"

She looked up to see her 'secretary' standing in the doorway of her kitchen, "Hello, child. What can I do for you?"

"Are you going to stay in for dinner tonight?"

Faith nodded, "Yes, dear. Are you going out for dinner?"

She smiled, "Kip asked me to go to the Downtown Steakhouse with him."

"And you said?"

She grinned, "I said yes. He's very nice."

Faith smiled, "I told you that he was a good boy. Did he finish the fish?"

"We're finishing it now. I think we'll probably be finished in about an hour."

"Okay then. Did you make reservations? That place gets very crowded on a Friday night this time of year."

She smiled, "He made the reservation."

Faith chuckled, "Such a gentleman."

"We've just been talking and talking for hours. He's so easy to be around."

"Send him up before you go."

"Grandmother…"

"Child, I want to pay him for his work… nothing more. He may need the money to pay for your meals."

She grinned, "Of course! Thank you, Grandmother."

Giving the younger woman a peck on the cheek, she grinned as she ran off. When she turned back to her flowers, Bo came to stand beside her,

"Lauren decided to come to town. She's hopping the train so we can ride back together."

"Oh, perfect timing." Faith replied, "The two of you must stay for dinner."

"Are you sure? We can get take-out if you prefer."

Faith waved her off, "Nonsense. We'll have fresh jam for dessert and I've made a nice stew for dinner. There's plenty for all three of us."

"And your Granddaughter?"

Faith smiled, "She's sweet on that young boy, Kip. He's taking her to the steakhouse for dinner." The doctor chuckled, "She was skipping."

Bo laughed, "Wow. Skipping, huh?"

"Skipping." Faith shook her head, "I'm going to break my fast and have a glass of wine… maybe two… tonight."

"All because she skipped?"

Faith shook her head, "All because I saw her skip. It's going to be a long winter."

Bo nodded, finally catching on, "Separated from her first true love."

"Blizzards are a bitch." Faith laughed, shaking her head, "Get those tongs. Maybe I'll use them to pinch my meddling lips shut so that I don't bring the curse of love on anyone else."

Bo laughed, "See? Matchmaker definitely needs to go on the shingle."

"With a warning… may fall hopelessly in love and do stupid things… like Bo Dennis."

"Hey!"

Faith chuckled, taking the tongs from Bo and moving back to the stove to prepare for the process of pulling the sterilized jars from the boiling water. She was excited to have the company of Bo to make her peach jams and it would be lovely to have them both for dinner. She hadn't been able to talk to Lauren on a more personal level in some time and it would be nice to see the two of them interact in a casual setting. She reminded herself she needed to be careful not to shift into counseling mode during their evening together.

She looked at Bo checking the window. Lauren was nowhere near Anchorage at this point, but she smiled knowing the woman was excited to see her young doctor. They just didn't know how lucky they were to have each other. She hoped that – as a friend to the pair – she could help to convey the importance of enjoying each other while you have each other.

She never thought she would be the one left behind, so when she lost her husband, she had wished for just one more minute with him… but the minute never came. She understood Lauren's worry – as a doctor, she knew better than most just how precious and fleeting life and love truly were, for the human body is fragile.

She glanced at the dried flowers to her left, remembering their brilliant, colorful blooms from summer and repeated the words once again in her mind… life is so very, very fragile.

"Bo, I'd like to ask. If you'd never met Lauren, would working with Little Jon have been enough to motivate you to finish building your homestead and put down roots?"

The brunette grinned, "If I hadn't met Lauren, I don't think there would have been anything LJ could have said to get me to mentor him. If I hadn't met Lauren, I might not be alive now considering the damage she's fixed to my body. If I hadn't met Lauren, I think I would have run when Big Jim's men came around and threatened the people of the town again. So, I guess your answer is no. Without Lauren, I'd still be a hermit."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The Homestead, Five hours later…

"Mom! Mom! We're home!" Rudy said, lugging the large round watermelon with great effort. Just as it began to slide down her body to her thighs, Mary rushed towards her.

"Oh, my! Here, child – let me help you with that." Mary smiled as Rudy placed the oversized fruit on the floor of the kitchen just inside the garage door.

Mary laughed and came to sit at the small kitchen table Bo had built for the room a few months ago. Mary had been truly impressed by her elder daughter's skills with wood. Despite being alone from such a young age, Bo had grown into an amazing woman. Beyond her work as a craftswoman, her ability to use trapping, hunting and fishing for trade and subsistence living, rivaled her own when she lived on the North Slope. In truth, Bo was better than she was at the peak of her youth.

Mary's attention was pulled back to Rudy when she climbed into her lap, straddling her and locking her fingers behind her neck,

"Momma, it was so much fun! After Lauren called you, do you know where she took me? Huh?"

Mary smiled, adjusting her daughter's long ponytail, "I heard she was taking you to meet Bo in Anchorage."

"Uh-huh! And we rode that train that has all glass windows! It's really pretty. A little while after we pulled out of the station, Lauren pointed out of the window and do you know what we saw?"

Mary chuckled, well aware of what was visible for several hours today, "I can't imagine! What did you see?"

"Denali! The mountain – she came to see me!"

Mary smiled, her eyes welling slightly with tears. The mountain was very special to her and she was glad that Rudy was finally able to see it in person, "That is very special."

Rudy nodded, "Do you know what Bo says?"

"No. What does Bo say?" She smiled.

"Bo says that when Denali smiles on you that your day is blessed by the power of the spirits. Do you think that's true?"

Mary nodded, "I do."

Rudy smiled, "Wow. I've been blessed by the power of the spirits." She looked up at her Mom, "What does that mean?"

Mary cupped her face, thinking of the words of the Athabascan prayer her own mother spoke to her as a child the first time she saw Denali. She translated,

"Everything, child. Everything. The spirits will comfort you, guide you, watch over you and shower you with their blessings all the days of your life."

She wrapped her arms around Rudy who whispered, "I feel special."

"You are." Mary whispered in reply, her eyes brimming with tears as Bo and Lauren entered the kitchen.

Bo stopped, staring at her Mother and sister, Mary's eyes traveling up to meet her elder daughter.

"Everything okay?" Bo asked, concerned.

Rudy pulled back and turned to face Bo, "I'm special!"

Bo looked at her Mom, then back at Rudy, placing the bags she was carrying on the counter, "Of course, you are! Did you just figure that out?"

Rudy crawled from her Mom's lap and over to Bo who lifted her onto the counter, "No, Bo! I mean… what you said before!"

"Rudy, it's been a long day of saying things. What are you talking about, little sis?"

"Mom said you're right! That Denali blessed me and now I feel special!"

Bo laughed, "Little sis, of course I'm right! Don't you ever doubt that!"

Rudy laughed, but then her face morphed into her special brand of seriousness, "I mean really special! I mean… I'm really… I'm… Denali-blessed-me-special!"

"Oh, it's not enough that you're all-of-us-love-you-to-pieces-special?" Bo asked, tickling her little sister.

Rudy giggled, "Of course it's enough! I love all of you to pieces too!"

She wrapped her arms around Bo's neck, squeezing her hard. Bo returned the gesture, her eyes welling with tears before she cleared her throat and pulled back from Rudy,

"So, do you want to tell Mom the news?"

Rudy's eyes went wide, "Ohmagosh! Yes!"

She released her sister and turned to go, but then turned back, "I need that thing… that special orange thing we brought for…" she tilted her head three times towards their Mom until Bo's eyes lit up,

"Oh. Right. That thing." Bo held up a finger, running back towards the door and opening a box. She hurried back to Rudy and handed the fragile gift to her, "Hold tight. Don't drop it."

"Right." Rudy smiled, "I'd jump, but…"

"Don't drop it." Bo lifted her from the counter and carefully lowered her to the floor. She watched as Rudy ran into the living room where their Mom was already seated on the sofa, a fire roaring in front of her as she began to pull her knitting from the basket.

Bo smiled, lifting her arms as Lauren sidled up to her, strong arms wrapping around her torso. The blonde placed a kiss on her cheek and whispered,

"She's so excited." Bo smiled, leaning back against her, both watching as Rudy gave her Mom the news,

"Bo and Lauren are getting married!"

Mary laughed, "I know, child. In the spring when all of the flowers are in bloom across the gardens behind Kenzi's hotel. It will be beautiful, yes?"

"No, Mom! They're getting the winter wedding Bo always wanted!" Rudy exclaimed, "Oh. And we brought you this! It's homemade peach preserves! We had some with dinner on the homemade bread that Doctor Faith made! Really, really good!"

Mary's eyes were wide as she excepted the gift with a half-smile, her mind still confused by the first piece of information she received. Looking down at the jam, then at Rudy, then at Bo and Lauren, she began to ask,

"You're…"

But Bo's grin told her all she needed to know, the brunette nodding as her eyes welled with tears at the sight of the broad smile slowly stretching across her Mother's face,

"So your feet warmed up, huh?" Mary smiled.

"Ha. Ha." Bo said, a friendly glare passed to her Mom, "It's more like – I came to my senses."

"So what changed?" Mary asked.

Bo looked at Lauren, "My perception… thanks to Dr. Gray."

"That woman is quite the matchmaker."

Bo smiled, looking at her Mom, "That's what I told her!"

Rudy ran to her watermelon and rolled it towards Bo and Lauren, "Can we please have this now?"

Bo bent down and lifted the melon onto the counter, "You sure do like your watermelons."

Rudy watched, her eyes level with the counter, "In Hawaii, there's all kinds of fruit everywhere you go! In Alaska, you have more snowflakes than fruits!"

"Not in the summertime." Bo defended.

"Bo, you can't compare Alaska to Hawaii for fruit. Fruits grow on the trees, Sis! On the trees!" Rudy said, her hands out to her sides, wondering how her sister couldn't easily see the difference.

Bo shrugged, "They grow on trees here too."

"Yea, in Doctor Gray's greenhouse!" Rudy argued, "Not on the real trees out there." She said, flinging her arm out towards the window, her little index finger adding emphasis on the tall greens covered with snow.

The women laughed, Mary suggesting, "I think she's got you there, Ysabeau."

Bo nodded, "I suppose. But does Hawaii have dog sleds?"

Rudy laughed, "Of course, not silly! We have sand."

Bo smiled, "I'll bet a sled would run well on sand."

Rudy considered Bo's statement for a long moment, her finger tapping her lips before a smile stretched across tiny face,

"You think I could sled on my beach?"

Bo shrugged, "Mom would know better than I do. She's lived in both. I've never been to Hawaii."

Rudy fell silent while Bo cut up the watermelon, placing the chunks in a large glass bowl. When she finished cutting the first half, she looked down at her little sister who was deep in thought,

"Hey. Where'd my little sister go?"

Rudy looked up at Bo, "I'm right here, silly."

"But my little sister talks and talks and talks until she falls asleep late at night." Bo giggled with her little sister before giving a quick tug on her ponytail, "So tell me. Whatcha thinkin' 'bout kiddo? Math homework you didn't finish?"

"Hey! I did my math homework on the train. Lauren helped me." Rudy smiled.

Bo nodded, "Good. Then you'll get a good grade!"

"I did it myself! She just checked it!"

Bo smiled, "Exactly! She would make you do it over and over and over again until it was right, so I know you'll get a good grade! No mistakes!"

"Oh. Right." Rudy said, squirming a bit before she looked up at Bo who leaned over and propped her chin up on her hands, her elbows planting on either side of her thighs.

Rudy reached out and pulled a stray piece of hair from her sister's shoulder, twisting it around her finger. Bo had become accustomed to the gesture. Rudy loved to play with her hair and Bo felt comfort in the act. It actually felt good to feel the tiny fingers on her scalp at night when Bo would read to her and Rudy would run her fingers repeatedly through the long strands. She did the same to Lauren when she would read to her.

"I know you don't like the big planes and I know you didn't care much for Boston, Sister, but…"

Lauren's eyes went wide, her head turning so that her eyes landed on Bo who immediately shied away towards her little sister. She placed a finger over her own lips, as she whispered to the youngster,

"Shhh… we don't want to make Lauren feel bad that I didn't like her city."

Rudy whispered, "But you did like her beach house and her beaches."

Bo nodded.

"Well, imagine her beaches, but the sand is super soft and white like snow. Imagine that the water is crystal blue like the glacier water that came down from the mountain to our river here… but it's summer… like all the time. Imagine that the beaches are lined with all kinds of plants and that the trees have bananas and coconuts and lemons and limes and papayas and avocados and… well… all kinds of things! You can climb them and pick them right from the trees. Then you lay down in the shade of the trees, lean back against the trunk. You peel your fruit slow and they smell so good. Then you eat them and they're suuuuper yummy! I don't have to stop playing to go inside for lunch like you do! I can just eat where I play!"

Bo giggled, "And how does my tiny little sisters' body hold all of those yummy treats?"

Rudy giggled, "I run around a lot and I surf a lot and I play really hard! Then I get hungry again! Momma says it's a cycle."

Bo and Lauren laughed out loud, "I suppose she's right."

"So would you?"

Bo smiled, watching Rudy twist her hair around her wrist, until she's reeled her in like a fish, "Would I what?"

"Get on one of the big planes and take me back to my island? I'd love to show it to you." Rudy smiled, her eyes hopeful until she saw Bo's eyes lower to her hands, "It's okay. I know you don't like planes. I love you anyway. Maybe someday you'll be ready."

Bo looked up at the smile in her sister's eyes… a hint of disappointment visible and it made Bo feel shame,

"I'll tell you what… maybe – because it will depend on a lot of schedules – maybe we'll go after the Iditarod."

"Really?" Rudy said, her eyes wide and her smile broad. The excitement on her face made Bo's heart swell.

"Really." Bo replied, looking up at Lauren, "I trust you've been to Hawaii?"

Lauren nodded, "I have, but I've never seen Rudy's island."

"Hooray!" Rudy yelled, jumping down from the counter and dancing around the kitchen before turning to her Mom, "We're gonna go home in spring, Mom! Isn't it exciting?"

Mary looked at her younger daughter, then up at Bo who was clearly not quite comfortable with the idea. She understood Bo's hesitation. Until she'd been forced to flee the North Slope, she had never left the safety of her home either. It was funny that she felt safer among the bears, moose and threat of cold than she did in the relatively non-threatening areas she'd traveled in the lower forty-eight. She turned to Rudy,

"That was a maybe, Roo, so don't get your hopes too high just yet." She wrapped her arms around her little girl, "But, in the meantime, I'm pretty sure your sister and her intended will want your help making them the most beautiful wedding ever held in Talkeetna."

"What's… her intended?" Rudy asked, her face twisted in confusion.

"Sorry, little bug." Mary laughed, tweaking Rudy's nose, "Lauren is your sister's intended – meaning she intends to marry her."

"Oh." She replied, "We know that!"

Mary nodded, "We do." She smiled before pulling her into her side and moving her gaze to her older daughter and her fiancé, "So, tell us all about this Winter wedding."

"Ooooh yes! Can we build snowmen people for an audience? We need a really, really big audience! I want everyone in the world to know I'm getting a new big sister!" Rudy said, clapping beside her Mom, her feet kicking.

"Rudy…"

"What? I am! Lauren's gonna be my sister, right Lauren?" Rudy said, glancing up at the blonde with hopeful eyes.

Lauren smiled, "Yes, I am, and it will make me very happy."

Rudy nodded, "Me too." She turned to her Mom, "And you get another daughter and you didn't even have to grow a big belly to do it!"

All of the women laughed as Mary replied, "Lucky me!"

"We are lucky. We're the luckiest family in the whole wide world." Rudy smiled, her eyes bright and her smile wide.

Bo wrapped her arm under and over Lauren's elbow, settling her hands on the arms around her torso and smiled at the blonde before looking at her Mom,

"Lauren never had her wedding dream. She never thought she would be married at all, let alone twice."

The blonde squeezed Bo tight, "Hey!"

But Bo just laughed, kissing her cheek, "The first one was a mistake, so she wants to make this one count…"

She turned to her Mom where her little sister was putting the bowl of watermelon on the ottoman, carefully picking a piece of sweet red fruit from the pile before making herself comfortable on her Mother's lap. Bo smiled as juice dripped from the corner of her little sisters' mouth. Rudy may be all bows and pigtails, but she was never going to be a girly girl and that suited the elder Dennis sister just fine. Bo released Lauren, tossing a towel to her Mom so she could wipe Rudy's face before she returned to Lauren and said,

"…and I want to make this one count as well."

Lauren smiled, "Actually, I never had a dream wedding. Like Bo said, I had never planned to marry. I didn't think marriage for couples like us would be legal in my lifetime. So since Bo has had a dream wedding since she was a little girl, I want her to have that wedding. That said, so I'm leaving it to the two of you. I'll help when asked, but it really doesn't matter to me as long as – in the end – I'm bound to my soul mate in every way a human can be bound to another."

She gave Bo a soft kiss on the mouth before the two turned to the sound of Mary's voice,

"The two of who?" Mary asked.

Bo walked to her Mom, kneeling down in front of her, "You and I have talked about my wedding since… well, as long as I can remember… until we didn't."

Mary could see the pained expression on her eldest daughter's face, and it broke her heart the same as it had the hundred times that she'd seen that look since her return to Alaska,

"Bo…"

"No, Mom. It's over. It's time we put the past where it belongs." She looked up at Mary, her eyes brimming with tears, "I want you to help me plan my wedding. Actually, I can't believe I'm saying those words at all let alone saying them to my long-lost mother… and a little sister I never knew I had." She cupped Rudy's face before turning back to her Mom,

"For over a decade, I thought I would be alone until I died at the hands of Big Jim or one of his men… left for dead in some cold, barren wilderness until I became food for whatever found me. For a long time after meeting Lauren, I wouldn't let myself hope that we could last. I had to keep reminding myself that she would go back to Boston and I would be left alone again. I had pushed what I thought were the naïve dreams of a silly child from my mind."

She lowered her eyes as emotions got the best of her, "But then… you came back and slowly… I gained hope that at least I would have you or Rudy and if you didn't stay, I would have my brother Tosh and his family. Honestly, I still struggle believing this isn't all just a dream and pinch myself regularly."

"Ow. Pinches hurt." Rudy stated the bowl now on her lap as she chomped away at piece after piece.

"You are going to get a tummy ache." Bo laughed, giving her two final pieces before handing the bowl to Lauren who took it back to the kitchen.

The doctor was struggling with the emotions of the moment as well. She'd never seen Bo open up to her Mom like this. She listened as her fiancé continued,

"For so long I was this recluse from society. Like an Alaskan Tarzan of sorts. Now, after all that's happened… well, I remember that little girl who wanted to grow up and be like her Mom… to have a home, a partner and a family to share it with. It's surreal that she ever existed and while I don't believe I'll ever be the adult that little girl might have become, I'd still like to fulfill some of her dreams."

She looked up at Lauren and offered a shy smile, "Now, I have you. We don't have to have human kids if you don't want… we have plenty of canine children to handle, but I promise whatever you want in this life, I will do my best to provide it."

Lauren smiled, moving to kneel beside her fiancé, "You don't ever have to provide for me, Sweetie. We'll decide things together as we go, just like we always have."

Bo smiled, taking Lauren's hand and giving it a squeeze, "Except for the wedding? Lauren, are you sure…"

Lauren smiled, "As I said, I want you to decide the wedding plans so you can have your dream."

"But my dream always including planning with my partner."

Lauren shrugged, "And I will be there to taste food and cake, pick out clothing or music, but the little details are in your mind, Sweetie. I want to make that wedding a reality for you. There is nothing I would want more. I'm sure there are little things that we can decide together... like our honeymoon."

"Our… honeymoon?" Bo asked.

Lauren gave Bo a kiss on the cheek before standing to walk to the kitchen as she called out, "Yes, a grand, wonderful, secluded honeymoon. The one that I've always dreamed of."

Bo swallowed hard, watching Lauren's sexy ass sway as she walked away from her. She stood and followed her to the kitchen, Rudy jumping from her Mother's lap before Mary could stop her. The older woman stood, the room swaying as she moved to take a step, but she caught herself on the fireplace mantel. Steadying herself for a moment, she regained her balance and walked slowly to the kitchen where she took the chair at the end of the table.

She watched as Bo and Lauren sat side-by-side, Rudy sitting on Lauren's lap. Bo smiled, "So… this honeymoon…"

Lauren smiled, pulling Rudy's bow from her hair so that she could gather the untamed locks into a fresh ponytail,

"We'll talk about it later. For now, we need to start the plans for the big day."

"Yes!" Rudy said with a fist pump.

"We only have two months." Mary replied.

Bo shrugged, "Sure, we only have the rest of October and November, but it was always going to be a simple wedding."

"No frills, no bows." Mary smiled before they both said in unison, "And no fuss."

Lauren smiled watching Bo with her Mom. It filled her heart to see their relationship growing once more. There were times where she thought Bo was so close to fully forgiving her, but unfortunately, that day was still a long time away. For now, they were both putting in the work and that would have to be enough. Of course, she worried that Mary would go to her grave never truly forgiving herself for leaving Bo behind.

Bo teased her little sister, eating a few pieces of watermelon while she held the bowl close to her own chest before relenting and passing it to Rudy. Bo grabbed the paper and pencil from the holder on the wall and handed it to her Mom who began to make notes.

Eventually, Rudy's belly was full, so she ran off to grab a deck of cards so she and Lauren could play a game of Go Fish. They all sat together for an hour or so, Bo and Mary working on the wedding details while Lauren entertained Rudy. Eventually, Bo noticed her Mom pulling her sweater closed and rubbing her hands together, so she suggested moving back to the living room so that they could all sit by the fire. Mary shook her head, suggesting it was time to ready the house for bed as she nodded towards Rudy rubbing her eyes half asleep on Lauren's lap, but still struggling to play cards.

Bo laughed, turning to Lauren, "That's Mom-code for get-the-dogs-peed-and-watered, put on the PJ's and then settle by the fire."

"Well, if we're going to make a fire and settle in, we may as well do it right." Lauren smiled.

"I happen to agree with you. Rudy and I will handle the PJ's and fire if you two handle the dogs?" Lauren suggested.

Bo smiled, "Sounds perfect. We'll rendezvous at the fireplace in fifteen minutes."

"Can we roast marshmallows?" Rudy asked.

Mary shook her head, "Those are only for special occasions."

Rudy frowned, "But it's wedding talk night!"

Bo grinned, "I think that qualifies as a special occasion, don't you, Mom?"

Mary shook her head, "This is why the two of you under one roof is a bad idea. You gang up on me. If that child gets sick tonight after eating damn near a full bowl of watermelon and then…"

"I got it, Mom." Bo said, looking at her little sister, "Two marshmallows. That's it." Bo winked twice.

Bo and Rudy laughed as Mary's scowl broke into a smile. The four set off to their specified tasks, happily preparing for their night by the fire. A little over an hour later they were all settled, Rudy playing checkers with Lauren in front of the mantle while Bo and Mary had moved on from wedding planning to a trip down memory lane. Mary smiling down at Rudy,

"She's got her second wind."

Bo laughed, "Too bad for Lauren." The pair laughed before the youngest yelled,

"Look!" Rudy leapt to her feet, pointing towards the window, "It's snowing!"

Bo and Mary nodded, "It's that time of year. We'd better get used to the white stuff."

"We get to switch out the runners on the sleds to the deep snow runners?" Rudy asked, jumping two of Lauren's pieces with a smile.

Bo nodded, "Soon, but remember, they're a secret. We don't want anyone to notice them."

"Our secret weapon!" Rudy whispered.

"Right."

"You promised to teach me." Rudy reminded.

"I promise I will teach you everything I know… Mom will teach you too."

Mary shook her head, "I think you should stick with Bo. I've been running the road sleds. I haven't been on a sled in snow in a decade. She's the expert."

"Mom, you said you would go out with me." Rudy whined.

Mary nodded, "And I will, but after Bo has given you the basics. They're her sleds and her dogs, after all."

Bo frowned, "Mom, you work at the kennel every day and you've been helping me build the sleds that Kyle and I are selling in our stores. I would think that you're going to jump right back into the musher's seat without any problem."

Lauren smiled, "It's just like riding a bike, right?"

"What does that mean?" Rudy asked.

Lauren smiled, "It means that once you know how to ride a bike, you never forget."

"Oh." Rudy replied, "I don't know how to ride a bike."

Rudy turned to her Mom, switching back to the topic of sledding without skipping a beat while Lauren was left to wonder if Bo had ever learned to ride a bike. It seemed to Lauren like something every child would learn, but then again – she had learned by now that Alaska wasn't the norm for anything.

"So you can still drive a sled in snow and teach me!"

"I will teach you when Bo isn't available." Mary replied, "Don't you want to learn from your sister? She is the champion, after all."

"My sister's the champ!" Rudy said, pumping her fist over her head while her other hand took the last of Lauren's pieces, "And I'm the checkboard champ!"

Everyone laughed as Rudy stood, cheering around the house, while the adults chanted her name. Mary stood, folding the blanket she'd been using and placed it over the back of the couch before turning to Rudy,

"Okay, champ. It's time for bed."

"Awww, Mom! Can't I play just one more game with Lauren?"

The blonde let out an exaggerated yawn, "I'm afraid I'm ready for bed too, Rudy. Now that the snows have come, we'll have plenty of game nights together."

Rudy walked to Lauren, falling into her arms, "Fine. Good night."

"Good night, my little love. Sweet dreams."

"Do you want to read me a story?" Rudy asked.

Bo interjected, "It's Mom's turn tonight. Remember? We take turns so all of us get a chance to read you to sleep. You don't want to take away Mom's turn, do you?"

Rudy smiled up at her Mom, "Nope! Come on, Mom!"

Mary smiled, as she was dragged from the room. She laughed at Bo and Lauren, "Help?"

They both waved goodbye to Mary as she was pulled into the part of the homestead that had become known as Rudy's house. Lauren moved to lay across Bo on the couch, her head in her lap, her legs crossed at the ankles.

Bo leaned down and gave her a chaste kiss, "Hello, Doctor."

"Hello, Miss Dennis."

Bo smiled, "So, the only thing we haven't decided is our name."

Lauren shrugged, "I wouldn't want you to change from Dennis. I mean, you are the world-renowned champion musher, Bo Dennis. Your name is sort of your brand."

Bo nodded, "Of course, I'm also infamous in some circles where the name change would be welcome. Besides, your name is your brand as part owner of Lewis-Archer, Inc."

"Bo, I don't mind changing my name… it really won't impact the business." Lauren replied.

Shaking her head, Bo replied, "You don't mind, but honestly, I would welcome the change, Lauren."

"It's your Mom's name, Bo… and Rudy's. Your Dad legally changed his name to Morton, so why change yours? Don't you want to honor your Mother? And don't you think Rudy would be upset?"

Bo shook her head, "I signed the papers yesterday."

Lauren pressed up onto her elbows, "You didn't tell me?"

Bo shrugged, "We both agreed I would sign, so I did. I didn't think it would matter when."

"I just thought… I thought we'd do it together." Lauren replied, clearly upset.

Bo nodded, "It's not official yet… I had them add your name."

"What?" Lauren asked, shocked.

"I talked to my Mom. I said I wanted to do this with you… that it would be the only way I would do it."

Lauren's eyes were flitting left and right as the news sunk in, "She agreed?"

Bo nodded, "She was delighted. I hope that… well, I hope that you agree. If you don't want to, I'll understand. I mean… being a Mom to a child that isn't yours… especially if you don't want kids. I mean… we never really talked about…"

"Of course I would like to stand with you on this. It's Rudy. It's just… it's an odd situation." Lauren replied, laying back in Bo's lap, her expression neutral.

Bo shook her head, "Like I said – nothing is official. I can sign the old papers just as easily, but I'd rather we were… a team… you know?"

Lauren nodded, but remained silent.

"So the papers are stored at the courthouse. Nothing will happen until we walk in there together for you to sign – if you choose to. I'll need to witness your signature and we'll have to present our marriage license. The name is also blank for the moment, making the papers even more unofficial. Once we sign, then Mom can explain while she's no longer her legal guardian."

Lauren gave another slow nod, "I'm not so sure how Rudy will react to all of this."

"Apparently Mom has already introduced the idea to Rudy… as a condition of her death."

"Really?" Lauren asked.

Bo nodded, "The topic came up when Rudy asked Mom what would happen to her if she died. She asked if she would be left all alone the way she had left me."

"I see." Lauren nodded, everything starting to add up for her, "A legal guardian for Rudy. It's a big step."

Bo nodded, "You're already the legal guardian for Elise."

Lauren shook her head, "I've signed over that right to your nephew and his wife."

"But you took on that duty without a single thought."

"She had no mother, Bo. She had no father. She had no one. It was her mother's dying wish."

"She was a stranger and you signed to be her guardian. Rudy is my sister, how could I not sign?"

"I see your point, Bo but Rudy's mother and sister are very much alive." Lauren argued.

"So are you saying you wouldn't do this with me?" Bo asked.

Lauren shook her head, "If your Mom died and we had to formally adopt Rudy, yes I'd be all in, of course. But that is not the case. This is… I don't know, Bo. I don't think I have the right to say what should and shouldn't happen with Rudy. I barely know your Mom and she's still alive. You are Rudy's blood. It's different for me."

"You're going to be my wife, Lauren."

The blonde sat up, sitting beside Bo, taking her hand in her own, "And as your wife, I would always be there as a sounding board or a confidant if you needed advice on how to handle any number of situations with Rudy. But I would think your Mom would be your first stop for advice on her daughter since she is very much alive."

"But what if it was a medical decision?"

"Then I would give you advice as a physician and surgeon or – if it was something in which I lacked expertise, I would access the best surgeon to give you advice." Lauren replied.

"So you're saying you won't sign the papers?" Bo asked.

Lauren shook her head, "I want to talk to your Mom first, then I'll need time to think about it. Honestly, Bo, I can see your Mom signing over custodial rights if she was struggling with health issues or in the case of her death, but this… I just feel like she's getting things in place to run and I don't want to be the one to put a signature on a document that would give her permission to do so without guilt."

Bo stared down at the fire, "You think she's looking for a way out of her commitment to me and Rudy?"

Lauren shrugged, "I'm not sure, Bo. She's run before. I think we have to keep talking to her and pushing a bit harder for answers."

Bo nodded, "In that case, I'm going to let the papers sit there for now."

"Does she have a legal Last Will in place?" Lauren asked.

"I don't know. Why?"

Lauren replied, "Because it would be the right way to handle custody of Rudy… in my professional opinion. It would force her to retain responsibility for her daughter while also providing proper custodial arrangements for Rudy in the event something did happened to your Mom."

Bo nodded, her eyes still set on the flames before them as she cocked her head to the side, "Do you think there's something wrong with her?"

"What do you mean?"

Bo shrugged, "I don't know. I mean… she seems to want to be here…she clearly loves Rudy and is a good mother to her. She's working with the family, she's engaging with people and doesn't seem like she's ready to head for the hills. The more I think about it, the more I have to question why she is so eager for me to have legal custody. She's either secretly preparing to run or she's secretly on her last leg."

Lauren nodded, "I agree… or… she's secretly terrified that she's going to do to Rudy what she did to you."

"What?" Bo asked.

"Maybe she didn't see it coming, Bo. Maybe – in a million years – she could never have imagined a time would come when she would leave you on your own."

"She's right, you know."

The pair looked up to see Mary standing beside them, holding a glass of water. She smiled, walking to the fire and holding her hands out over the flame,

"Sorry… I was thirsty and needed a glass of water."

"Mom…" Bo began, but Mary waved her daughter off and began,

"I spoke with Judge Blackhawk in the General Store today. He told me you had signed the papers… that they only needed Lauren's signature."

She turned to face the pair, her eyes moving to Lauren, "First, I would love for Rudy to have two parents and I can think of no better candidate to share the responsibility with my Ysabeau. If you speak with Doctor William Grace in Seattle, he has been given my records from the doctor who diagnosed my condition in Hawaii. You and Bo are listed as my emergency contacts and I signed the papers to give the two of you medical power of attorney, forcing it to be a joint decision so neither can choose without the other unless one of you is deceased, then that person's decision falls to Molly Morton."

She turned to Bo, "I'm sorry I kept the truth from you. I just wanted some of the time we lost… it was selfish, but… I've lost everything and the one thing I've gained is Rudy. She's precious and… well, she's going to need you. I wanted the three of us together and… well, go figure… I fell into a family. After so much suffering and pain for everyone… I want my daughters to have a life of love and joy."

She turned back the fire, standing profile as she spoke, "As much as I hate everything your Father forced on us… all he did… all he left in his wake… I will never regret the night that gave me you… I can't and I won't. Regardless of the pain you had to endure, the rest of your life will be brilliant, so I refuse to have any regrets. I will suffer till the bitter end and I deserve it, but you and Rudy will have an amazing life together… and for that, my heart is full."

She turned to Bo and Lauren, a smile on her face as droplets of tears trailed down her cheeks, glistening in the orange glow of the firelight,

"Good night, young lovers. May the spirits bind your souls tighter while you sleep in each other's warm embrace."

"Mom…" Bo began, but Mary shook her head,

"Please, Bo. Let Lauren speak with Doctor Grace, then we'll talk. For now, just know that I love you both and I am truly, truly sorry."

With that, she turned and walked to Rudy's house, leaving Bo and Lauren in shock. The blonde stared into the fire until she heard a whimper. She turned to see tears streaming down her fiancé's cheeks,

"Oh, Bo." She said quietly, pulling her close, "It's okay. We don't know anything."

She tapped her phone, checking the time, "It's too late for me to call him now. I'll call him first thing in the morning, and we'll see what's what, okay?"

"She really is dying." Bo said, "We're just getting back to each other and she's dying. Rudy will be devastated."

Lauren held her tighter her own mind racing with memories of the day she'd first met Mary. She tried to think of anything that might have been a sign or symptom of a terminal condition, but she came up blank. She took that as a good sign,

"Bo, this may simply be a case of a disease or condition that will cause her to deteriorate over time – possibly a great deal of time."

"She may not be dying?" Bo asked, her voice holding a tinge of hope.

"I can think of no terminal illness that would allow your Mom to do the things she's doing and look the way she looks if she were dying any time soon. Now that doesn't mean one doesn't exist. My field is Cardiology, so there are plenty of conditions that would fall outside of my field of expertise."

"I'll take anything I can get right now."

Lauren nodded, releasing the brunette so that she could look into her eyes, "Please try not to get too carried away just yet, Bo. Give me a chance to talk to her doctor. There are many, many variables to consider. There may be treatments she refused because she couldn't afford them. She may have refused treatment because she has a lack of knowledge or misinformation or she may have misunderstood what the doctor told her. We just don't know anything yet. For all we know, Dr. Grace has just accepted your Mom's oral report about her condition and not reviewed the case given him from her former physician. Okay?"

Bo looked up at the blonde, "Okay… I'm glad we moved the wedding up."

Lauren gave Bo a tight smile, "Me too. Are you ready for bed?"

"Definitely." Bo replied, following Lauren as she led the way upstairs.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Next Morning, 7 am

Lauren rolled over, reaching out to snuggle into Bo's warmth, but instead found cold sheets. Her eyes opened, expecting to see the sun risen, but she instead found the same dark, star-filled sky she went to bed with. She sat up, holding the sheet and blankets to her bare chest, the cold sending a shiver down her spine. She felt around the bed until she found the pullover hoodie Bo had pulled from her body last night.

Slipping out of the bed, Lauren donned the sweatshirt tiptoeing across the cold floor to the wood stove to stoke the fire. Once she had it going again, she rubbed her hands together over the open vents until her skin burned. It was very early winter, but the season was coming in with a vengeance. Bo promised it wouldn't last… that they would have warm weeks before November, but it didn't seem that way right now.

With the glow of the fire slipping through the vents, Lauren used the dim orange light to locate the brunette on the other side of the room divider. She scowled when she found fiancé hunched over her laptop, a towel over both her head and the device to block the light. Lauren knew it was because Bo didn't want her to know what she was doing.

Lauren laughed, thinking about how the Bo she'd met just under a year ago wanted nothing to do with any form of technology. Now, here she was on a computer doing whatever it was she was doing before sunrise. She sighed, walking to her, being sure to announce her arrival before she put her hands on her,

"What's going on under there? Did I not satisfy you last night or did you just go straight to internet porn instead of waking me up?"

Bo quickly slammed the laptop shut, pulling the blanket off of her head and spinning around to lay eyes on Lauren. The blonde smiled at the hairs that stood straight up on her fiancé's head due to static and laughed out loud when she saw salsa dripping from the corner of her mouth,

"Salsa and chips for breakfast?"

Bo shrugged, "Just a snack."

"A snack? At what… three o'clock in the morning?"

Bo threw the blanket onto the chair as she stood, moving to the blonde, "Actually, it's six-thirty, my lady love."

"Six-thirty?" Lauren asked, panic in her eyes.

"It's okay, sweetie. It's Saturday."

Lauren shook her head, "I have a meeting with my staff at the clinic at eight, Bo. With the snow, I'll have to take my sled. I'll never make it on time!"

"I didn't… I'm sorry. I didn't know or I would have woken you up… the sexy way… an hour ago."

Lauren began to move around the loft, gathering her clothes for the day and tossing them onto the bed. She grabbed her briefcase from beneath her desk and set it by the stairway so she wouldn't forget it, then headed back to change into a robe before heading towards the stairs, carrying a towel.

"Why don't you just leave now and go to your apartment where you can take a proper shower after getting all sweaty mushing a sled?" Bo asked.

Lauren stopped, thinking for a moment before walking back across the loft to her dresser. She pulled out a T-shirt, sweatpants and a hoodie, trading her robe for the clothing. She picked up her towel and headed for the bathroom.

"Lauren…" Bo began, but Lauren waved her off as she headed down the stairway,

"Be right back."

Bo turned back the laptop, hesitating before opening the lid. She stared at the screen for a long moment before exiting the website with a sigh. She leaned back in the chair, fingers locked behind her head before turning to look through the window. The sky was beautiful. She had been saying it for weeks, but it was always on her mind - she was happy they were moving back towards twenty-four hours of darkness.

"I'm an idiot. I'm on WebMd trying to figure out what's wrong with my Mom and my wife-to-be is a doctor... a surgeon… a really talented and well-connected surgeon… a brilliant surgeon. If there's a chance for my Mom, Lauren will find it, so how about I stop being an impulsive, impatient, doofus and try letting my amazing doctor wife-to-be do her thing?"

"Good idea."

Bo turned to see Lauren wiping her face and mouth with her towel. She hesitated before standing and walking towards the blonde,

"I uh… was…"

"You were searching WebMd for a disease associated with your Mom's signs and symptoms. Of course, I'd be interested to know exactly what signs and symptoms you believe you've observed or heard her mention to enter into their database…"

"Lauren, I was just…"

"Trying to do my job?" Lauren shook her head, "The one website I asked you to avoid…"

"But… I couldn't sleep and…"

"Then wake me, Bo. Talk to me. Don't go to some website that leads thousands of patients to misdiagnose themselves every year leading to delayed treatment, unnecessary worry or worse!"

"My Mom is already diagnosed! I didn't think it would hurt to… I was… it was two in the morning and I couldn't sleep. I didn't want to wake you because I knew you would just tell me to be patient… that you would call her doctor in the morning, but… I was impatient and… I just… I needed answers…"

Lauren wrapped her arms around Bo, "I know. I know, sweetie. But still, Bo – I wish you would have nudged me awake so I could have comforted you. The only thing that website will do is raise your anxiety about what's happening."

Bo pulled back, laying her hands on Lauren's chest, "You're right. I'm more worried now than I was before."

Lauren shook her head, "What did you find?"

"That my Mom may have flesh-eating bacteria or a parasite that could eat her alive from the inside out... or cancer."

Lauren laughed, "I hardly think that's her diagnosis."

"I agree… not that I'm qualified to agree or disagree." She shook her head, "I'm sorry, Lauren. I shouldn't have been…"

The blonde lay a finger over Bo's lips, then replaced it with a kiss… then another before she spoke,

"I'm sorry I wasn't more understanding. I'm sure you must be feeling some incredibly confusing feelings right now. You're worried, but you're still angry with your Mom. You just found her again only to worry of losing her again. You were forced to live alone for so long through no choice of your own only to be thrust into a world where you not only find a family, but may become solely responsible for a young sister you never knew you had… not to mention gaining a fiancé after swearing you would never love, let alone marry. I can't imagine what you're thinking and feeling. It's a lot, Bo. Take a beat."

She felt the brunette nod, inhaling a deep, but shaky breath before exhaling long and slow. She gave her lover a long moment before she stepped back a bit further, taking Bo's hands in her own, "Bo, if you want to hold off on the wedding…"

"No! Absolutely not. This wedding will go forward no matter what. Besides, I think it would be a shame for my Mom not to be here for it. If we delay, she may… uh…"

Lauren pulled Bo to her when the tears began to fall, holding her tight, "Bo, don't get ahead of yourself, okay? I know it's your instinct, but please wait until I speak with her doctor, okay?"

The brunette nodded, mumbling her response into Lauren's shoulder, "You'll call me as soon as you know?"

Lauren nodded, "Right after my staff meeting, I'll call him. He may or may not be available at that time, so I'll call you as soon as I get a call back."

"You'll tell me if you're waiting?"

Lauren smiled, "I have office hours this morning, so the call is going to delay my patient visits. I'll have Shannon call you and keep you posted. I promise."

"Thanks."

Lauren nodded, "Of course, we could just make plans to meet at the hotel or general store for lunch?"

Bo pulled back, Lauren wiping the brunette's cheeks as she spoke, "You'll have time?"

Smiling, the doctor replied, "I'll always have time for you, sweetie."

Lauren leaned in, placing another kiss on Bo's lips, this time deepening the kiss. She pulled back and smiled at Bo whose eyes were closed as she hummed her approval,

"I love your kisses."

Lauren smiled, "I love your kisses."

"Okay. Get going so you have time to talk to the doctor."

"Okay. I'm off. Don't go back to sleep. You're supposed to be in by nine."

Bo laughed, "LJ is probably already there switching the rails over for deep snow. I can't wait to see how the new ones run."

"Will you switch mine over too?" Lauren asked, but was met with silence, "Bo?"

"I'm worried about you handling the extra speed they'll give your sled."

"Oh. I thought… well, you said I was doing really well." Lauren said, the corners of her mouth turning down.

"You are, Lauren but I have no idea just how these new runners will perform. It's all theory. What if they come off while you're in the middle of nowhere?"

Lauren shrugged, "What if yours come off while you're even farther out in the middle of nowhere."

"Really?" Bo smirked, "You're asking me if I can survive in the middle of the wilderness until someone notices I'm gone and sends help? Not to mention the fact that I know how to fix rails…"

"Okay, so it's not the same thing as me being stranded, but still… I'm starting to enjoy going fast… I mean… it's thrilling!" Lauren smiled, a little bounce in her step as she spoke.

Bo laughed, "You're adorable, but I do have one other concern. I'm supposed to use your sled to teach Rudy. You're still okay with her using your team to learn the ropes?"

Lauren smiled, "I think they're the best women for the job, don't you? They're gentle, they know her and listen to her and they're protective of her which I think – and I'm not a professional musher – I think it means they'll take care of her on the sled."

"Well, I am a professional musher and I agree with your non-professional assessment. Did you get that idea from MusherMD?"

The pair laughed, sharing one last kiss before Lauren headed for the stairway, grabbing her briefcase. Bo turned back to the bed and shouted,

"Lauren! Your work clothes!"

She grabbed Lauren's backpack and carefully stuffed the folded piles of clothing inside before flipping the top over and securing the clips. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small box, putting it into the outside center pocket where she knew that Lauren would reach for her keys. She grinned as she secured the pocket before carrying it down the stairs to where Lauren was pouring herself a cup of coffee,

"Your work clothes?" Bo said, holding up the backpack.

"Oh, geezus! Thank you!"

Bo looked around the living room and noticed the fire, the muffins on the stove and the coffee, "I guess Mom's up early this morning."

Lauren nodded, "She mentioned that she hadn't been sleeping well. It's normal for a woman her age to struggle with sleep – not to mention sharing the big bed with Rudy."

Bo laughed, "Rudy doesn't seem to realize she has her own space when she's in the big bed. She still ends up right on top of whoever is on the other side."

Lauren smiled, "She does seem to float from bed to bed, too."

Bo shrugged, sipping from the mug that Lauren gave her, "Damn, my Mom can make a great cup of coffee."

Lauren smiled, "She should open a coffee shop in town. We could really use one of those… with these muffins."

Bo opened her mouth, accepting the piece of blueberry muffin that Lauren offered, "So good."

"Okay, I've got to get going. Help me hitch up my sled?" Lauren asked.

Bo shook her head, "I've got more time. Why don't you take my truck. My Mom and I will bring both sleds in after we change out the runners... the regular deep snow runners for yours. You'll be late if you wait for me to do it now."

They both turned to see Bo's Mom entering the house, flipping off her headlamp as she came in, "It's a cold one out there today."

Bo sighed, "I hate this unpredictable weather. The forecasts are only right half of the time."

Mary laughed, "I taught you long ago how to read the skies. Why are you relying on the forecasters?"

Bo lowered her eyes, "I suppose I got lazy."

Mary shook her head, "All their fancy technology." She hung up her scarf, "They should look up to the skies, mountains and out over the water instead of looking down at those glowing screens."

"There's a lot of truth in that, Mom."

"Of course there is. Denali's awake." Mary said, "I see you found the coffee and muffins."

Lauren's mouth was full, but her eyes went wide, "Ohmagosh!"

She ran for the back door, heading straight out into the snow, out the back gate to the shore. Bo watched as her arms stretched out towards the sky at the sight of the awesome mountain that Lauren had fallen so deeply in love with last winter.

Bo stood, staring down at Lauren's belongings, dropped on the floor, "I swear she loves that mountain more than she loves me."

Mary smiled, "Don't take it personally, child. We all love that mountain? It's a spiritual experience."

"I suppose you're right. She's going to be late for work." Bo shook her head, "Then she'll be mad at herself."

Just as she'd said it, she saw Lauren turn and run back towards the house, "Maybe not."

Lauren entered the house, shaking off the snow at the entryway, "Bo, it's beautiful! The moon is low, but the stars are still beaming over the mountain." She reached down and grabbed another muffin, taking a bite, "And it was… my gawd that's a good muffin… and the glow of the moonlight on the water below the mountain – it's just perfect! A perfect morning!"

"You never liked mornings here without a sunrise." Bo replied, handing Lauren her coffee thermos as they walked towards the garage door.

"I changed my mind after taking in that scene out there this morning. My day is night and my night is night and I'm all screwed up for time, but I won't miss sunrise if I can see that beauty of a mountain every morning."

Bo laughed, "Well, that's sort of a one-time thing since Denali rarely shows her face around here."

Lauren shrugged, "I'll take once a week."

"Try once every two weeks and you may get lucky."

"I'll take what I can get." She looked up at Mary, suddenly realizing she hadn't asked about taking a muffin, "Uh… were these for someone else?"

Mary laughed, "Of course not. Just earning my keep."

"Mom, how many times do we have to tell you that you don't have to earn your keep." Bo insisted.

"Of course I do. I switched out the rails on two of the sleds. You can use one of the old sleds to teach Rudy."

Bo replied, "I was going to have her run Lauren's dogs today - with me on the seat behind her, of course."

"So? Lauren's sled is still your backup sled, right?" Mary asked.

Bo shrugged, "I would like to try them out before Lauren or Rudy run with the new runners. I don't know how reliable they'll be. They're not tested yet."

Mary shook her head, "Bo, you and Kyle have been over the design with the engineer a thousand times. They were tested on every surface except deep soft snow, but they were ice and snow tested up on the trails around Denali. They're ready, Bo. The more sleds using them, the better the test."

Bo sighed, "I guess if I'm on the sled with her…"

"But what about your team? They need the exercise, Bo." Mary asked.

Bo smiled, "I thought you might like to run them."

"You trust me with your full A-team?" Mary asked, shocked.

"What's not to trust, Mom? You've been running them with other dogs and in small groups. Why wouldn't I trust you to run the whole group?"

Mary shrugged, "As I said to Rudy last night, it's been a long time since I did long distance mushing, Bo. I thought that knowing I'm sick… you wouldn't be as comfortable…"

"Mom, you look fine to me. Since you won't tell us what's wrong, I'm going to keep things status quo until Lauren tells me we have to adapt things around here to suit your needs."

"I don't run alone." Mary said emphatically.

Bo nodded, "LJ said you've been taking road runs."

"I have, but never without him or one of the hired trainers out there with me and never in snow." She scowled, "I don't trust myself if we get into rough terrain."

Bo looked at Lauren, slowly following her Mom's movement towards the stove, "Did something happen on a training run?"

Mary shook her head, "Not yet. I just don't feel… strong. If the sled were to tip or I were to fall off, I'd never be able to…"

"I get the picture, Mom. It's okay. We'll run together. I'll be right with you."

"With three dogs?" Mary laughed.

"Three dogs and a lot less weight. I was planning on taking my trip supplies back to town today. If this weather sticks, I can start working up thirty to fifty-mile runs. I've got to get going if I'm going to do hundred milers by the end of next month."

Bo caught the look on Lauren's face. It was quick, but she'd noticed. The blonde had become quite skilled at hiding her worry over Bo's training runs, but this time, she'd surprised her with what she was sure was an unexpected announcement. Her Mom, on the other hand, had simply nodded. She knew the drill – her Mom taught her the drill.

"I guess I'll be doing more hours at the kennel?" Mary asked.

Bo shrugged, "We can add on hours to other employees. It doesn't have to be you, Mom. The twins asked LJ for more hours now that they're thirteen –"

"… and a half!" They all chimed together with a laugh.

"That extra six months means a lot to both Sam and Scott." Bo grinned, "And their Mom, Wendy, gave permission. Their Dad doesn't have much longer and she would rather they weren't in the house when she goes to the hospital to sit vigil. LJ is going to keep an eye on them – make sure they're going to school, doing their homework, calling Wendy at dinner time and then getting home when she's on her way back so they can get to bed."

"If only it had just been the flu. The whole situation is tough," Lauren nodded, looking at Mary who she was sure was thinking about the same life for Rudy in the future.

But Mary shook her head, shaking off the mood, "I like working at the kennel. I like working with the dogs. I actually welcome an excuse to spend more time there. You know I've always been more at home with the canine world than the human world… except for my daughters."

Bo smiled, "Mom, you don't need an excuse to hang out at the kennel or see the dogs. You're welcome there any time, you know that."

Mary shrugged, "I guess I wasn't so sure. You said you want to do things your way, so…"

"Mom, I still want your advice… value your advice. I just want you to check in with me before you go changing the routines of my dogs or the way we're running the kennel. LJ said you've had some good ideas and when I was in Boston, he called me with a few of them and I agreed."

Mary smiled, "So you do have a hand in what's happening."

Bo grinned, "LJ doesn't take a pee without calling me first. He's got things down with the dogs – his dogs especially. He's got a system that works for him and I'm trying to keep my distance so he can grow and learn for himself – the way I did. I gave him the basics, now he can find what works best for him when it comes to mushing."

Bo looked out the kitchen window, "If he has questions, I'm there but he's learning that he has to develop his own style. But the store… the kennel… he's lacking in knowledge there. I'm still waiting for the time he runs into trouble he can't handle. He's getting a bit cocky out there, so when he takes longer runs, I make sure he has the Kennel's satellite phone with him just in case. He's learning, but he's only been at it for a little over a year at full time. I've had more than twenty." She turned back to her Mom, "So, he's got freedom to run his team as he sees fit, but he's on a short leash, so to speak."

"Like I did with you?" Mary asked.

Bo nodded, "Exactly, but I have to admit you gave me a much better base than I've given him. You gave me a system that I haven't strayed from much – only where technology has improved things. I was reluctant to help him for the first ten years of his life. Now, I wish… well, I wish things had been different so that I could have helped him."

"His grandfather." Mary replied with a sigh.

"My Father. He doesn't like the association and I have to respect that."

Mary nodded, "Well, that sled you're driving now certainly has some technological advances I would never have seen coming. Those rails are impressive, but the overall sled design is very nice."

Bo shrugged, "I worked with Kyle on that. She called me stubborn and too set in the old ways, I called her a techno-geek. Somehow, we met in the middle, she brought in an engineer to teach me the physics of different materials and how they interact with snow and temperatures and… well, my newest sled was born. Now we're selling them."

Mary smiled, "And who wouldn't want to buy a replica of the sled Bo Dennis used to win all of those titles."

"It pays the bills." Bo said, unapologetically.

"And then some. Are you worried about giving your competitors your technology?"

Bo shrugged, "The tech only gets you so far. You've still got to know the land."

Mary nodded, "Well, that's very true. From what LJ says, selling your gear is helping the kennel to turn a nice profit."

Bo shook her head, "Well, what LJ doesn't realize is how much of those profits are going to be shoveled right back into prepping for the race. If he decides to enter this year, it will double our costs, but I'm worried he won't make enough in winning to pay the bills. I'll have to pay it out of my race winnings and… well, what if I don't win? Anything could happen. Mushers are forced to drop out all of the time. I've just been lucky so far."

"He's entering this year?" Mary asked, shocked.

Bo shrugged, "I don't know. He hasn't committed one way or another."

"It'd be suicide for that boy to run and you know it. He has barely topped a single one-hundred mile run and did it roadside at that. He's not ready for that wilderness, Bo. Stop him or I will."

"It's his choice, Mom." Bo replied, "You forget who you're talking to. When I set out into the Yukon wilderness with just my five dogs, two axes, two knives and a crossbow, I was not even sixteen. I was homeless, poverty stricken and had no experience outside of the North Slope… and no experience around outsiders. But I learned… and I survived."

Mary nodded, "I'm not sure if that's supposed to be a reminder for me or twisted logic as to why you shouldn't stop LJ from running. That boy was raised with too many luxuries to last out there and you know it. You survived because of how you were raised. He eats food from a can for crying out loud. You caught your first fish through the ice at age two."

Mary stood from the chair she had taken, wobbling a bit when the room began to spin. Bo reached out to steady her, "Mom!"

Mary waved her off and continued, "I think your reasons for not wanting to interfere with LJ are less about me and more about you being afraid to be labeled a mentor to that boy. The problem with that is – whether you want the title or not – you're his mentor. He's waiting for permission, Bo. But you keep telling him it's up to him."

She headed for the living room, but turned back to Bo,

"That means that he's left to guess what you think and make no mistake – what you think matters to that boy – more than anyone else's thoughts. You're not just his mentor – you're his teacher, his big sister and his idol. If he thinks you think he should run, he'll do it because he doesn't want you to think he's not brave enough. If he thinks you think he's not ready to run, he may never run because he thinks it means you don't think he's good enough. Either way, you'd better prep a reason for whatever you're thinking so you don't ruin that boy for life."

Bo stood, frozen as her Mom's words sunk in.

"Have a nice day, Lauren. I'll stop by the clinic before closing so we can talk… privately, please."

Lauren nodded, "I take it that means you want me to be your primary care doctor here?"

She nodded, "Unless that's against some ethical code or something, yes. I won't go back to the healers in the village. I don't have a place among them anymore. Seline had me declared an outcast before white law took her to task. If you have another doctor you'd rather I see…"

Lauren waved her off, "Let's just see how my conversation with your doctor goes and then we'll decide. If I feel I am not the best choice, I'll refer you to another of my staff. They are all excellent physicians that Stephen and I have hand-picked. Okay?"

"Okay." Mary nodded before resuming her trip to the living room to give the couple a chance to say a private goodbye.

Lauren placed a hand on Bo's shoulder, "I've got to go. I'm going to be very late."

Bo nodded, "Maybe if you skip the shower…"

"I smell like sex, Bo. I've got to take a shower or Kelly will be making inappropriate comments in front of the rest of the staff. Then I'll have to fire her and it will be a whole thing…" Lauren laughed.

Bo smiled, "Oh our little Kelly. Will she ever grow up?"

Lauren laughed, "We can only hope."

Bo nodded, "Take my truck. I'll see you at lunch."

Lauren nodded, "Bo, about what your Mom said…"

"She's right, Lauren. I'm going to have a talk with LJ today. He's not ready for an Iditarod, but I am going to start entering him in some smaller races this winter. It will take more time away from me being home…"

Lauren waved her off, "I'll be opening a hospital, Bo. We'll both be very busy. I'm just worried about Rudy not getting lost in the mix. I don't want her to feel like no one has time for her."

Bo nodded, "I'll take her with me to races if Mom's okay with it. Otherwise, she can stay with you or Mom when I'm away. She likes being at the kennel and she likes being at the clinic."

Lauren smiled, "She wants to be a Vet, you know."

"Really?" Bo asked.

"For now, yes. Who knows what will happen down the road?" Lauren laughed, "I wanted to ride in a fire truck when I was her age."

"You wanted to be a fireman?" Bo asked, surprised.

"No, I said I wanted to ride in a fire truck. I don't recall wanting to run into burning buildings – just stand on the truck with the sirens going."

Bo laughed, "Wow. I didn't know you were such an inspired child."

Lauren smiled, "Like I said – who knows what will happen down the road. We like a lot of things as children. Finding our passion – that's a whole different ball game."

"Who knows." Bo nodded.

"See you soon." Lauren said, giving Bo a kiss before she headed out the door to get on with her day.

The brunette stood, staring at the door, debating whether or not her earlier conversation with her Mom warranted more talk. She looked out at the darkness, her eyes focusing on a glint of gray on the horizon. The sun would bring some light to the land for a few hours soon.

She grabbed her coffee and another muffin since she'd only had a few bites of Lauren's and headed into the living room. She found her Mom sitting, eyes set on the fire as she sipped her coffee. Bo sat down at the other end, settling in with her muffin on the wide wooden arm of the sofa she'd built.

"Nice fire, Mom."

Mary nodded, "There's nothing quite like a warm fire to cut the chill in the house in the early hours of the morning. It's really kicking up out there. Lauren didn't take her sled, did she?"

Bo shook her head, "She was going to, but since she was late for work, I talked her into using my truck. Looking out there now, I'm glad she didn't try to take her sled. While her skill on a sled is actually quite good, I'm still worried about how she would handle herself in the wild. She has yet to come face to face with a bear on her own and the times she's had to deal with one with someone else present, she's sort of froze up. She's still nervous out here."

Mary smiled, "Is that why it took so long for her to come back from Boston?"

"That… well, that is complicated." Bo replied.

They shared a long moment of silence before Bo asked, "I was thinking about what you said about LJ and I think you're right. I told you about my history with him…"

"Your Father trying to have you lynched because LJ was young and reckless and put his sled through the ice at the lake?"

Bo sighed, "Yea, that."

"That… wasn't your fault, Bo. You know as well as anyone that the ice can be unpredictable at times. From what Molly and Mark told me – and your brother Tosh as well – LJ was a tenacious young man who would have followed you to the ends of the universe as a child. You weren't going to stop him and you had no way of knowing it was him who followed you."

"He almost died." Bo replied.

"But he didn't because you were there to save him from himself. You don't remember the time you did the very same thing, do you?"

"What?" Bo asked.

Mary chuckled, "Oh, you were so young back then. Stubborn, too – just like now."

"I'm…"

"You are. You think that I'm just a fixture here, but I have eyes and ears, Ysabeau. You're stubborn and you need to listen to that Doctor of yours. She's good for you. She's your anchor – if you'll let her be."

"Fine. You're right. She's right. I'm wrong. I'm stubborn. Now what don't I remember?" Bo asked, desperately wanting a change of topic.

Mary turned slightly to face Bo, "It was subzero and whiteout conditions. You couldn't have been more than eight or nine. We were out of just about everything and the house was under fifty-five degrees with no signs of warmer weather ahead. Your Father and brothers were off – well, wherever they went when they would leave for months at a time. We needed supplies – badly. I told you to stay put – that I was going out to get the things we needed. You begged me not to go. You told me it was too dangerous."

Mary chuckled, "Ah, yes. Even at that age you knew the weather, Ysabeau. Still, as the Mother, it's my job to provide, so I went out to the kennel to prep the dogs. The whole time I was getting ready, I knew you were right behind me, lurking in the shadows."

Adjusting her position, Mary took a sip of her coffee before she continued,

"Once I had everything loaded, I headed out but not before I shouted back to you to stay put and stay in the house… that it was too bad outside for your dogs. Usually, they would make you see reason, but on this day, I had a feeling. I did a large circle around the property before heading out, knowing that you were probably prepping your sled to follow me. Sure enough, when I came around, there you were, right in front of me. I swung wide, knowing I didn't have to go far to make sure that you couldn't see me in the whiteout conditions. I held back, but ran a parallel course to yours, always keeping you close enough so that I could see you and your team."

"You didn't reveal yourself?" Bo asked.

Mary shook her head, "I had hoped to teach you a little lesson, but as luck would have it, you learned a big 4-legged lesson that day."

"A bear?" Bo asked.

"Polar bear."

"Oh shit."

"That's what I said when I made out the triangle in the distance. You were a perfect sized tiny human meal back then… seal-sized."

They both chuckled as Mary continued, "I covered the distance to your sled in good time, calling out to you when I knew that you could see me, but you couldn't hear me."

"The wind?"

Mary nodded, "I fired off a flare and the sound of the gun drew your attention before the streak of light did. You started to turn your sled towards me, turning your back on the bear, but luckily, you looked to where I was pointing. Only the Athabascan Spirits know how in the world a child your age was able to pick out the bear in those conditions and then have the presence of mind to act."

"What did I do?" Bo asked.

Mary gave a chuckle and a shrug with her response, "You threw your little leg over the lower rail, called out a strong 'haw' to your dogs as you drew your crossbow from your back, took aim and fired an arrow at him just as he charged you. He stumbled for a moment – long enough for you to reload and take a second shot at the same time I fired off a round from my shotgun."

"I take it he was dead?"

Mary smiled, "Yup. We covered the bear since it was so close to home and headed out to the post to get firewood."

"I guess we didn't need much else after that." Bo concluded.

"Nope. That bear gave us meat, fur, skin, bone… we used every scrap and it lasted the two of us the entire winter."

"How did we get that thing home?" Bo asked.

Mary grinned, "That was actually your idea. You always were a smart one. We lashed our sleds side-by-side, switched the lines so that the dogs could run three astride and six deep with one lead since we had nineteen dogs between us."

Bo grinned, "Harper's Grandmother was our lead?"

Nodding, the older woman replied, "Yuji, yes." Mary smiled, turning to the fire, "I miss that old girl. She was something special."

Bo smiled, "I don't take her blood for granted, Mom. It's the reason for my success."

Mary shook her head, "You're the reason for your success, Bo."

"Respectfully, I disagree. If it weren't for the instincts of Harper and her siblings, I'd be dead twenty times over. Those dogs have saved me more times than I can count."

"So the stories are true, huh?"

"Most, yes. I'm sure there's a lot of embellishments out there… it happens. So, nineteen dogs hauled a polar bear and the two of us in white out conditions, huh?"

Mary nodded, "They certainly did. I mean… I had to run a lot, but you handled the steering like a pro. Honestly, I thought you were leading us right out to the water's edge, but we landed right on our front stoop. You had amazing directional instincts – even as a child."

Bo nodded, "So you think LJ has those instincts?"

"Not even close. He ditched his sled in the lake because he was too busy looking for you instead of paying attention to his surroundings. He doesn't listen to the sounds of nature, so he doesn't know that rails in deep snow make a sound that can be heard. He thinks they run silent. He doesn't hear the rustle of the trees when a bear is nearby. He relies on seeing the bear. He doesn't even seem to have instincts when he fishes. Like I said before – he's been raised with too many conveniences. He hasn't learned to use what the Spirits have given him."

Bo nodded, "I guess that's true."

"What I'm saying is… take him out and be his trail sled. Teach him how to listen to the wild, Bo. It's what he's missing. He's not at peace with the spirits of the forest, air, land and sea as I taught you to be. He'll never be a champion if he can't have the conversation."

"You're right." Bo replied.

"Of course, he wasn't raised Athabascan as you were, so you will have to find a language he can understand."

"I don't know how to do that with him any more than I know how to do it with Lauren, Mom. Now I have to try to teach Rudy and Elise… probably Janie as well. I don't remember when I learned. I don't remember how you taught me."

"Well, I can tell you that if you tell him to bend down, stick his head in the snow and have a conversation with the ground, he'll think you're losing your mind."

The two women chuckled, Bo finally asking her,

"Seriously, Mom… how do I teach him that the land has a pulse that I can feel when I run if I don't tell him to listen for it?" Bo asked.

Mary smiled, "You'll find a way, Ysabeau. You're a good mentor. You'll find a way and he'll find his. I think that if you released your fears and taught that partner of yours, she would learn faster than LJ would."

"Have you met, Lauren? I mean… I thought you'd met her, but now I'm not sure. My wife-to-be… the scientist… the seeing's believing, Big Bang Theory doctor?" Bo asked with a smirk.

"Have you been paying to attention to how your lovely wife-to-be is growing and learning? Did you see her out there with Denali just now? She uses white man's words to describe what she's seeing, but she instinctively reached for the sky. That woman of yours feels this land as if she was born to it like you were. Give your woman some credit, Bo. She's not just book smart like you think. She may have been an outsider last year, but she is no outsider now."

Bo considered her Mother's words as she watched her stand to put another log on the fire before picking up the brunette's plate and heading for the kitchen. The younger woman settled back on the sofa, holding her mug in two hands as she watched the fire grow in size once more. She closed her eyes, enjoying the quiet until she felt a warm body snuggle in next to her own,

"Well, hello there." Bo smiled.

"Hi."

Bo laughed at her groggy little sister. She reached behind her, grabbing the blanket from the back of the sofa and throwing it over the little cuddler before draping her arm over her shoulder.

"How did you sleep?" Bo asked.

"Cold."

Bo laughed, "Come here, kiddo."

She slid onto the floor closer to the fire, catching another blanket from her Mom and holding it out for Rudy. The little one ran into her arms, snuggling her head into the crook of Bo's neck and curling her body into her lap. Bo wrapped the blanket around her, holding her tight. She just needed a little of Bo's body heat. Of course, the hot fire would speed things along as well.

"Mom stole her body heat from you, huh, little Sis?"

"Mom didn't sleep well, so I didn't sleep well." Rudy moaned.

"Are you sure Mom didn't sleep well because somebody was hogging the bed?" Bo chuckled.

Rudy shook her head, "I was on my side for sure. She kept getting up and then laying down and rolling over and over. She usually sleeps like a big old boulder… you know, asleep like a rock."

Bo laughed, "Yea?"

Rudy nodded, "Yea. This one time, there was a really bad storm on the island. I ran into her room because I heard shingles getting blown off the roof. There she was, sitting in her reading chair with her glasses hanging off her nose and the book on the floor. I'm telling you our Mom could sleep through a hurricane."

Bo laughed, "Well, thankfully we don't get many full-blown hurricanes around here. We might get a cyclone or a typhoon on a rare occasion, but mostly our winds just blow snow and turn water to ice. I suppose we're more prone to mudslides and flooding than when the permafrost was thicker and the temperatures colder, but so far we don't have to worry much about Mom sleeping through a hurricane."

Rudy remembered, "We had this one they named Lane. It was a long time ago, back when I was only eight…"

Bo laughed at Rudy's version of age and time. She knew exactly what storm Rudy was referring to because she had seen footage of the storm on the TV while sitting in a bar. It did millions of dollars in damage to the Big Island, if she remembered correctly. It was strange to think back on when she'd heard the news - she didn't think anything of it. She would never have guessed she had anyone she knew there, let alone a Mother and a little sister she knew nothing about.

"… then the clay shingles started to fly off the roof. That's when I got really, really scared. At first, I hid under my bed, but then I remembered that was for earthquakes, not hurricanes. I didn't know what I was supposed to do in those, but I knew Mom would know. I guess she thought we were just supposed to sleep through it and let it carry us away."

Rudy laughed and Bo joined her, "Wow, so Mom really can sleep through anything."

"Told you." Rudy nodded, brushing her hair from her face.

"Here. Let me get that for you. Sit up."

Rudy sat up between Bo's legs facing the fire. The older sister went to work combing through her littles sisters' long dark hair, pulling each bunch into her free hand until she had a well-formed ponytail. She wrapped the hair tie around it three times and then laughed when Rudy pulled the blanket over herself once more and settled in against Bo,

"I like this."

Bo smiled, wrapping her arms around her little sister, "I like this too. However, we're going to have to get ready to go soon. We've got a kennel to run, kiddo."

"Awww… can't we just take the day off?" Rudy groaned.

Bo shrugged, "Well, it's Saturday and you don't have school but if you'd rather lay here than have your first sledding lesson, we can do that. I'm sure Mom and LJ would be more than willing to run the kennel for the day."

Rudy's head popped up faster than those weird creatures on the Whack-A-Mole game. Bo smiled thinking back to her time in the arcade in Anchorage with her little sister before she'd left for Boston. Rudy begged her to take her to Boston. Now, Rudy's eyes were wide, and her smile stretched out across her face showing all of her teeth, except for the first molars she had lost the night before last,

"Really? You're gonna teach me to sled today?"

Bo looked up at her Mom who was smiling down at her two daughters, her cheeks wet with tears that appeared to have been falling for quite some time. She frowned, but her Mom waved her off, nodding back to Rudy.

"I am." Bo smiled reconsidering the seating assignments as she replayed her Mom's concerns over again. She looked tired today and with Rudy mentioning she hadn't slept, it was probably best that Bo drove her sled with the load today. Of course she could take her equipment in the next trip without Rudy and her Mom.

"Am I gonna use Snow?"

Bo shook her head, "She's too little, sweetie. But she can ride in the basket of Mom's sled. She's going to take Lauren's dogs. You are going to drive my sled. We've got a big load to carry. Think you're up for it?"

The light left Rudy's eyes, replaced with concern, but Bo was there to reassure her, "I'll be sitting in the seat right behind you. I'll help with everything. I want you to get a feel for what it's like to run behind a full team of champions. They'll take good care of us, Rudy. You don't have to worry."

"And Lauren's dogs will take good care of our Mom?" Rudy asked.

Bo smiled at her Mom, offering a shrug, "Well, they're still pretty new to sledding and this will be their first trip out in the snow since early March. They're probably going to be a bit distracted, but Mom has a lot of experience dealing with distracted pups."

"She does? She never told me that!"

Bo laughed, "Well, she raised you and me, didn't she? We're always distracted!"

Rudy laughed and Bo couldn't help but notice the change in her Mom's demeanor as well. Mary smiled, looking to her daughters,

"My most beloved human pups were always more distracted than my canine pups! You two have always kept me on my toes. What do you say we go out and show Rudy how we changed to the new rails so you can check my work? We can load the sleds, get the dogs fed and let them out in the yard for some play time before the work begins."

Bo smiled, "Sounds perfect."

She turned to Rudy, "You, little Miss, have to brush your teeth, wash your face, put on the warmest clothes you can find – remember to layer, then grab a muffin and come out to the garage. Mom and I will do the heavy lifting while you're getting ready and eating breakfast."

She pulled off the blanket, her little sister responding with a squeal when the cold hit her skin. Bo laughed, "Go on now. Mush! Mush!"

Rudy ran off, leaving Bo with her Mom. The brunette looked up, smiling at her Mom,

"You okay to work today?"

"The moon kept me up last night, Bo. Nothing more."

"The moon?" Bo asked.

Mary shrugged, "I didn't put the blinds up in the new section of the house yet. I don't trust myself on a ladder alone."

"Mom, one of the guys would have helped you…"

"I know. They offered and I told them I'd take them up on it. I just couldn't decide what to put up."

Bo smiled, "You want wooden ones like the ones I made for in here?"

"It would look nice from outside if all of the blinds matched, don't you think?"

Bo chuckled, "Mom, you could have just asked me. Better yet, do you want to make them together? I'd love to teach you some more woodworking if you're interested."

Mary's smile was wide as her eyes filled with tears, "Just like old times. I'd love that."

"Yea, only I'm the teacher this time, so I hope you're a good student."

"Don't forget who taught you to be a good student." Mary laughed, standing up with her cup and plate, "Meet you in the garage?"

Bo nodded, standing up and folding the blankets, "I'll just be about ten minutes getting ready."

Mary nodded, "Rudy will beat you out there. She's excited."

"That's a good thing, right?"

"If you don't mind one hundred questions a minute, sure!"

Bo stopped suddenly, mouth opened as she watched her Mother laugh her way into the kitchen. She sighed,

"Oh boy. What did I get myself into?"

She headed up the loft steps, pausing when she heard Rudy enter the living room, "Bo! Bo! Doth wu hov boos foth ma?"

Bo laughed, "Rudy, I can't understand a word you're saying with a toothbrush in your mouth. Brush your teeth, pull on your bottom layers and I'll meet you downstairs. I'm going to change and then come down to the bathroom."

Rudy nodded and rushed back down the hallway. Bo shook her head,

"Ninety-nine questions to go… hopefully they'll be in English I can understand." Bo laughed.

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