I stood, rooted to the spot, paralysed with shock for a couple of moments. A thought crossed through my mind that the tiny person in the box was a doll, but I could most definitely see her chest rising and falling in peaceful sleep. I figured it must be a girl due to the blanket's color scheme.

Adam and Hannah had nearly reached me, but in my shock, I yelled for them anyway, forgetting that it might wake the baby.

"What's the ma- Oh my!" Hannah said when she and Adam reached me not more than a few seconds later and looked in the box to which I was pointing.

"What in the heck!" Adam said.

"Oh my goodness, gracious. Is that a baby?! Where did she come from?" Hannah said. She bent down and scooped up the still sleeping little creature, settling her in the crook of her arm.

"Look- there's a note in the box," I said, bending down to pick up a piece of folded over lined paper that had been hidden underneath the baby. Before I could even open it up to read it though, Adam grabbed it out my hand.

"Hey!" I said, but he ignored me, opening it up and scanning it. I saw his face change to an expression I couldn't place and then he ran a hand over his face and showed the note to Hannah.

"Oh my god," she said. The two of them shared a meaningful look.

"What is it? What does the note say?" I demanded. Both of them ignored me. Adam opened the screen door and then the front door for Hannah and followed her into the house. I followed in their wake, leaving the box where it was.

"Adam what was in the note?" I insisted, trailing them both into the kitchen.

"You don't need to-"

"Adam, just let her see it. There's no point in trying to hide this," Hannah said, not looking at him, and stroking one of the baby's miniature hands.

"I think Brian should see it before she does," Adam said.

"Why Brian- is the note for Brian? Is the baby something to do with Brian?"

"We've seen it before he did!"

"It's not the same thing and you know it, Hannah," Adam said.

I watched the two of them debate, and then I don't know what came over me, but I felt an incredibly strong compulsion to know what was in the note. I just had to know! Before I knew what I was doing, I had grabbed the note out of Adam's hand and run into the living room with it.

"Heidi Mae!" I heard Adam yell, but his voice sounded incredibly far away as I read the words on the piece of paper:

Brian-

This is Starr. She's yours. You can look after her better than I can.

I'm sorry. Take good care of her.

Destiny

"Holy shit," I said before I felt a hand on my arm, and I was spun around to face Adam who was looking at me furiously.

"Since when is it acceptable to snatch something out my hand, Heidi?"

Normally, I would have taken heed of that tone of voice, but I was still reeling with the news in the contents of the letter.

"Adam- the note says that's Brian's baby!"

"I'm well aware of what it says; I'm asking you if you think it's ok to snatch things out my hand after I've told you you couldn't have it."

"But who's Destiny? And where is she now?"

"Heidi!" Adam said, shaking me slightly. It brought me back down to earth and I looked at his face properly. He looked ferocious and my belly flopped.

"I'm sorry, Adam, I just- I didn't mean to- I don't know what came over me. I know my behavior's not okay," I said, and I did know. Of course I knew - like I said, I don't know what came over me.

"You've known not to disobey like that since you were a little girl!" Adam ranted at me.

"I know, I'm sorry, I-"

I was interrupted by the sound of bootsteps and voices on the porch and then a second later, Brian came through the front door, followed by Ford, Crane and Guthrie. The four of them were laughing about something, but they stopped when they saw the scene between me and Adam- him holding my arm and clearly in the middle of scolding me.

"What's goin' on here?" Brian asked, immediately looking sober.

Adam looked at me and dropped my arm.

"Nothin' – it's between me and Heidi. Come through to the kitchen, we need to talk," he said.

Brian frowned at Adam's serious tone.

"Is everythin' okay?"

"Just come through, Bri," Adam said. He said very quietly to me, "We'll talk about this later," and then he walked over to Brian and clapped him on the back and ushered him through to the kitchen. Crane followed them, clearly sensing something serious was up. I flopped down on one of the couches. Ford and Guthrie were still hovering near the front door, looking puzzled at the scene they had walked into.

"What was that all about?" Guthrie said. He came and sat next to me on the couch. Ford sat down opposite us, reaching down to pull off his church shoes which I knew from week upon week of griping he found uncomfortable.

I didn't answer at first, thoughts whirling round in my mind.

"Heidi!" Guthrie said again, once again grounding me.

I told them about the baby, forgetting for the minute that I was mad at Guthrie for threatening to betray me to Adam and Brian if I saw Josh again. Both stared at me in disbelief; Ford's mouth was even hanging open in a comical manner. Except none of us felt like laughing.

"You're telling me there's a baby in the kitchen, which you found in a box outside, and that it's Brian's baby?" Ford said.

"Well, yea. That's what the note says anyway…"

"Holy smokes…" said Guthrie.

I was dying to know what was happening in the kitchen and so approached it the back way, through the mudroom. Ford and Guthrie followed me and the three of us just hovered at the door to the kitchen.

Brian's face was deathly pale; he was just staring at the baby still being cradled in Hannah's arms. He ran a hand through his hair.

"I don't know how this happened… I'm always so careful…" he whispered.

"Clearly not careful enough," Adam shot at him. "How could you not-"

"Adam," Hannah interrupted, standing up with the baby and laying a hand on his arm. He looked at her and took a deep breath, saying nothing else.

"Here Brian, I think you should hold her," Hannah said. Before Brian even had a chance to decline, she expertly transferred the baby into Brian's arms. He cradled her, looking down at her in wonder. He was, quite literally, lost for words.

"We should call Charlie," Crane said, from where he was leaning with his arms crossed against the sink. Charlie was the town sheriff whom Adam in particular had been integral in getting elected a few years back. "We don't know if the mother is okay, or how old the baby is, or if she's healthy, or even if she's yours, Brian."

"She sure looks like you!" I couldn't help pointing out which earned me a glare from Adam. "Well she does!" I said.

The baby was, undeniably Brian's twin- the same dark hair, the same blue eyes, the shape of her lips and her face was Brian's. I wasn't a geneticist but that was definitely Brian's child.

"Do you remember, uh, being with her?" Adam said.

Brian shook his head. "It was just a couple of times. I haven't seen her in more than a year…"

"It only takes once," Adam said, echoing the lectures I had heard him giving the boys time and time again over the past few years. He sounded mad; I wondered why- Brian was grown. More than grown- he was almost 30!

"Crane's right, we need to call the sheriff; see if we can get in contact with this little girl's mother. She clearly needs help right now. And one of us is gonna have to go to the store and get diapers and formula and wipes," Hannah said.

"The store's closed on Sundays," Crane pointed out.

"Well then we'll need to send someone to Sonora," Hannah said, just as we heard the front door open and the sound of Evan's voice mixed with another higher pitched one.

"Who's with Ev?" Guthrie asked me quietly.

"I don't know…" I whispered back before I suddenly remembered that Crane had told me that Molly would be coming to the house for lunch after church today. Molly and Evan materialised in the entrance to the kitchen less than a couple of seconds later. They were laughing about something. Evan had a soft spot for Molly- she had saved his horse, Diablo, a few years back by operating on him and waiving the surgeon's fees so our family could afford it.

"Hi, everyone!" Molly said.

"Wow- Hannah- did you give birth already?" Evan quipped when he took in the scene in front of him. When no one laughed, his face dropped. "What? What's the matter? Brian- whose baby is that?"

"Apparently, she's Brian's," Crane said dryly, walking over to Molly and kissing her hello. She raised her eyebrows at him as though to ask what was happening. He gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head which she seemed to understand.

"What do you mean the baby's Brian's?!" Evan said.

I won't lie. Part of me was enjoying the drama of the situation.

"Her name's Starr," I added, trying to be helpful. "Her mom left her here, in a box. On our doorstep with a note."

Evan started to ask more questions then, but Hannah interrupted him, springing into practical mode and giving us all orders.

"Crane, go call Charlie and explain the situation. Evan or Ford- one or both of you go to Sonora and get the things that Starr needs- I'll make a list for you now and give you some money." She turned to Adam and put a hand on his arm. "Honey can you go up to the attic and pull down the crib? We're going to need it now, at least for a little while until we can locate Starr's mother. Guthrie can help you." She looked at Brian, who was still standing, staring at the baby as though he couldn't quite believe his eyes. She led him to a chair. "Here, Brian, sit down with her."

Brian allowed Hannah to lead him and Starr to a chair at the table. None of us moved to follow Hannah's orders- we were fixated on watching Brian, and Brian was fixated on looking at what was allegedly his daughter. When the baby stretched one of her tiny fists up over her head and yawned as though she were stretching, all of us held our breath in case she woke up, but her eyes remained shut.

"C'mon guys, let's get to work," Hannah said, clapping her hands quietly. It jolted us into action. Most of my brothers went to carry out the jobs Hannah had given them, apart from Evan and Ford who hovered around, waiting for Hannah to make a list of the things they would need to buy.

"Why don't I take care of lunch?" Molly said to Hannah.

Hannah smiled at her gratefully. "That'd be great. Heidi can help you," she said, effectively volunteering me for a domestic duty. While Molly and I pulled vegetables and meat out of the refrigerator and discussed quietly what to make, Hannah quickly finished the list. Evan and Ford loped off out the front door to take one of the cars to Sonora. I would have liked to have gone with them- I absolutely hate being pigeon holed into doing cooking and cleaning just because I'm a woman: it's one of my pet peeves. Another time I might have argued, or at least asked if I could have another job doing something else, but I could tell that just now was not the time to argue. This was, for want of a better word, a crisis, and I was already in Adam's bad books.

I told Molly that I wouldn't touch the meat, but I would chop and peel all the vegetables. She asked me where Daniel was. I told her that he had gone straight to practice with band and wouldn't be back until after their gig much later that evening. I was a bit distracted during our conversation though because I had one eye on Brian and Hannah, who was now sitting next to Brian at the table. A few minutes later, Crane came back into the kitchen with the news that Charlie and his deputy were on their way to our house. He started to help Molly and I with meal preparation.

"I didn't know…" Brian said. I couldn't see his face because he was behind me, but he sounded stricken. "I didn't know about her. I didn't know Destiny was even pregnant; I'd never have left her alone with a child…"

I turned to look at him and saw Hannah rub his arm. "We know that, Brian. We know you'd never-"

A crash emanating from upstairs interrupted Hannah in mid flow. All of us looked up instinctively as though we'd be able to see through the ceiling into the attic.

"I'd better go up and see if they need any help," Crane said. He moved with speed towards the stairs and then the phone started to ring.

Hannah signed in exasperation. "Good lord, what now?"