That evening found True standing in front of Ezra as he buttoned the dress he brought for her to wear. "Now for your hair." He gestured towards Rihanna and gently smacked her rear to get her moving.

"Dang it Ezra! I'm still delicate back there!"

"I know." He smiled then looked at her quizzically.

"What?"

"I am just wondering why you did not ask the horses to remain stationary when Mr. Jenkins instructed them to move."

"I'm not allowed to use my gifts for pranks Ezra." At his pointed look and knowing smile she sighed. "It was such a spur of the moment idea! I didn't even think to do that!"

"We really must do something to curb your impulsivity."

"Good luck with that." Rhianna quipped as she moved True into a better position and started combing out the tangles that always seemed to be present in her cousins hair. Once she had it smoothed out she started braiding it up and away from her face in an intricate pattern.

"Ah Rhi..." True was about to complain until she realized they were very similar to the warrior braids she used to wear at home. Somehow Rhianna managed to incorporate it into a beautiful masterpiece with the girls long curls tumbling down her back. "Wow. How'd you do that?"

Rhianna smiled. "Well I knew that you would not want your hair styled in any way and that the only time you allowed it without argument was when it involved your warrior braids. Mary was kind enough to allow me to practice with her hair until I found something I knew you would like."

"It's beautiful!"

Rhianna smacked the hand that came up to touch it. "No! I do not want you to ruin it."

Vin entering the room interrupted Trues comeback. "You look beautiful Sunshine."

"I know!" She said and crossed her arms with a pout. "You're lucky I love you cause I wouldn't do this for just anyone."

Rhianna couldn't help herself and gave him a quick read to see how things went with Lauren's parents. She was so glad it went well even if their reaction confused Vin. She gave a big smile and thumbs up to Ezra and True causing Vin roll his eyes and drop a kiss onto her cheek. "Ya could have just asked."

"Where is the fun in that?" True giggled.

Vin scooped her up into his arms. "Let's go. Everyone is waitin on us."

MAGSEVENMAGSEVEN

"You sure they want to meet me?" True asked when they were just outside Lauren's house. "I mean I ain't the one wanting to marry Lauren."

"You're my kin so we're packaged deal. Sides they asked about you right from the start. They're gonna love ya."

The door opened before they could knock and a giant man ushered them inside. "Shes here Olivia!"

"True these are my parents Sean and Olivia." True had to look way up to see the mans face. She hadn't seen such a large man since she'd met Uncle Murdock!

"My aren't you a beautiful child!" Olivia exclaimed.

True looked at the woman beside him. She now knew where Lauren's beauty came from. "Hello Mrs. and Mr. Willis."

"Oh we can't have that!"

"What ma'am?"

"This Mr and Mrs nonsense. You can call us by our given names."

"Uh..." she looked to Vin for a response as that did not meet the 'respectful child' expectations. He gave a slight shake of his head so she turned back to Olivia. "I'm sorry but that would be disrespectful."

"Oh bother. We going to be family one day I cannot abide the formality."

True spun around to face Vin again. "You asked him already?!"

"He didn't have to. Lauren made it clear to us that she was going to marry your brother with or without our permission." Olivia smiled at Vin. "Not that she needed to tell us that. From the moment I met him I knew he was the right one!"

"Yuck." True muttered quietly but not quietly enough apparently because Sean put his arm around her and laughed. "Now back to this name business. You are a child so I understand Vins reluctance to allow you to call us by our given names. I know you'll be Lauren's sister when these two finally marry but you are closer to our grandchildren's age so we would love for you to call us grandpa and grandma one day. For now how do you feel about Aunt Olivia and Uncle Sean?" He asked thinking of how his children called his mothers cousin Murdoch their Uncle. "You and Vin can give it some thought and let us know if you think of something different."

True never had grandparents before so she really liked that idea. "Ok!" Vin cleared his throat. "Uh I'm mean Yes sir."

"Then it's settled! Now that that business is out of the way let's eat. The ham Lala has been cooking all day is calling my name!"

"Lala?" True giggled.

"Oh that is the name our youngest Emma called her when she was just a little thing because she couldn't say Lauren. Eventually her other siblings as well as Olivia and I started calling her Lala too and it's been what the family has called her since."

Supper went well with Sean and Olivia telling stories about Lauren and her siblings when they were younger. After one hilarious story about Lauren's brother John running her older sister Mary's knickers up the flag pole in front of the schoolhouse Sean turned to Vin. "I've been meaning to ask. When we pulled into town I noticed the front walk of the Newspaper looked like it exploded. What happened there?"

"Someone thought it would be funny to tie Mr Jenkins horses to the porch. They pulled a whole section off when they were told to walk on." Vin said looking at True.

True still felt some discomfort from Chris's efforts and wiggled in her seat. "I ain't doing that again."

"I would hope not." Sean said giving True a little wink.

True smiled back. This is nothing like the man she pictured when Lauren talked about him and his reaction to all of the trouble she and her siblings got up to. From the way Lauren told it she expected a forbidding stern man ready to smack her at the slightest provocation. Seeing Trues expression Lauren leaned over and whispered "You do not want to get him angry. Trust me."

After supper they all retired to the sitting room. Before True could climb into Vins lap Olivia steered her to the settee. "Your hair looks amazing. Who did this braid?"

"My cousin Rhianna. Chris made me get all gussied up and she said my hair had to match. I didn't have a say in any of this." She said and gestured to her dress with a frown. "I'd rather be in my overalls."

"Well you are a beautiful young lady and I'm glad to have had the opportunity to see you dressed up."

True blushed at the praise then looked over at Lauren to hide her discomfort. "So since your parents are here does that mean the spring break is starting this week? You wouldn't want to miss out on spending time with them you know."

"I'm sure you'd like that." She replied. "However my mother was once a school teacher and often helps at the local school when needed so she will be joining us."

"But then Uncle Sean will be bored. I'll be glad to miss out and keep him entertained."

Sean wanted to point out that she was entertaining him quite a bit right now but stayed silent and watched the little imp try to worm her way out of class.

"Vin has already been called on to do that."

"Vin? He don't say more than ten words in a day. How's he gonna to do that?"

"You're going to school." Vin said.

"But..."

"True."

"Yes sir."

Sean watched the dynamic and was satisfied to see that just saying the girls name ended the argument as he didn't want to see the result if she continued. He could not ignore the pouty frown on her face, however, so he stood to scoop her into his arms and settled back down with her in his lap. "We will have plenty of time together. Perhaps after school let's out and you have your homework done we can take a walk through town and you can show me your favorite places."

While not happy that her plans to avoid school were thwarted she was very relieved he wanted to spend time with her. "Yes sir." She said and smiled up at him. "But I can do it right after school. My homework can wait."

"On no little lady, don't you try to pull one over on

me. I'm sure the rule is the same for you as it was for Lauren and her siblings. All school work is to be completed before play. Clear?"

True looked up wide eyed at the slightly stern tone in his voice. "Yes sir."

"Good."

After only a few hours True felt like she'd know Lauren's parents her entire life. She had become so comfortable that she snuggled back into Sean's large chest without much thought. "So got any more stories about Lala here?"

The evening wore on as everyone talked and continued to get to know one another when a knock at the door interrupted their conversation. Vin sent a questioning look at Lauren to see if she might know who it was but she shook her head. He cracked the door open and was relieved to see Chris on the other side. "Hey cowboy."

"Figured I'd come get True so you didn't have to cut your evening short to bring her home and put her to bed." He said with a smirk.

"Thanks." Vin growled and led him inside to introduced him to Lauren's parents. They greeted him with the same ease as they did Vin and True. "I see someone's made herself comfortable." He said when he saw True curled up in Seans arms.

Sean gave True a squeeze. "And I am loving every minute of it."

"Come on True. Time for bed."

"Aw Chris!"

A simple raised eyebrow had her scrambling off of Sean's lap. Chris lifted her into his arms. "Say your goodbyes."

True said good night to Sean and Olivia then leaned down from Chris's arms to give Lauren a hug. She then jumped from said arms into Vins for a snuggle and kiss before sliding down to the floor. "Be good for Chris."

"After all the horrors he's threatened me with if I'm not I ain't even gonna breathe without his say so."

Chris rolled his eyes, took her by the shoulders and gave her a gentle swat on the backside. "Let's go."

"She is adorable Vin." Olivia said after they left. "Such a delight."

"For now." He joked. "She's a great kid even if she's a little spirited. We manage."

"Lala told us about the special relationship she has with you and Chris."

"Yeah. I reckon to her I'm not that much different than her brother Kieran, who passed a while ago. Chris is like a father to her though and doesn't let's her get away with much."

"He most likely takes a hard line with her to allow you to remain her brother. You still provide guidance and discipline but you most likely allow things, little things that do not cause any harm, that maybe you shouldn't. Your relationship with her is stronger because if it."

Vin stared at Olivia and processed her words. "I've never thought of it like that."

"Chris is like a father to Vin too. You should see him when Chris is angry at some fool stunt he pulled." Lauren teased. "He once left town for three days to give Chris time to calm down."

"The man don't say much but when he does he's likely to burn your ears off." Vin groused with a smile. If only Lauren knew what occurred at Netties a few months ago. That was one story he was never going to share!

Lauren laughed then nudged Vin and tilted her head in her parents direction. At his nod she turned to face them. "So now that True is not here there is something we need to tell you."

"Something that's going to be hard to believe but we feel you need to know since we will be kin." He told them about True's past, her relationship to Rhianna and what their abilities were. When he was finished he sat back and waited for their reaction in trepidation. If they couldn't accept the girls there would be consequences he didn't want to face.

After a few moments to process what then were told Sean spoke. "You know when Lala told us about how True and Rhianna saved her from burning in a fire we wondered how two little girls could do that. This surely explains things."

"And your ok with this?"

"Well I won't lie and say it not strange and hard to comprehend but she is a darling child and you're family. To accept you is to accept everything about you, including True and Rhianna." Olivia replied.

Vin let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. "Thank you."