AN: Thank you readers for sticking with this story. A special thanks to anyone who left a comment. I truly appreciate all of your thoughts, ideas, and plot predictions. I was just thinking how great it is, that there are still so many people who care about Gunsmoke and these characters! On with the show!
9 Months Later – New Orleans.
Matt tossed his son high into air. The little boy giggled as he dropped safely into his father's strong arms. Gabrielle stood in the doorway smiling. She couldn't help but think about the day this tall, blue eyed man arrived at the door looking for Kitty Monroe. She never did sort out exactly what happened after that, but she knew for sure that when the place became the Dillon household, there was a lot more joy and laughter than there had been before. She stepped into the study. "Mr. Dillon, it's time Matthew had his nap, I should take him upstairs." Matt have his son a hug, and handed him over. "Gabrielle, I don't know what we'd do without you." He watched them leave and returned to his desk, where a pile of papers awaited his attention. He was carefully going through the stack, making notes on each sheet of paper, when he heard the door open and looked up. Kitty walked in wearing a form fitting green jacket and skirt. Her matching hat, worn at a jaunty angle, brought out the color of her eyes.
"Well, it seems I'm married to the most stylish woman in New Orleans."
Kitty carefully lifted her hat from her head, and set it on the desk with a shrug. "Business attire for a business meeting. Everything went smoothly. Cafe du Monde is all ours. Cecil officially retired, and will be moving to California soon." Kitty took a seat beside Matt and kicked off her high healed shoes. "Business is booming at the cafe, which is great, but with Cecil gone, it will mean more work and responsibility." She nodded at the stack of forms Matt was going through, "That's a lot of new applications from businesses wanting security guards. Dillon Safety and Security has developed quite a reputation, and justifiably so, but you're going to have to do more hiring."
"Yep, even with Newley finally arriving, there's more business than we can handle with the number of men I've hired." Matt leaned back in his chair. "But I'm not compromising quality. I have to truly trust a man, before I take him on. Providing protection to our customers, is ultimately my responsibility."
Kitty watched Matt's face in profile, as he spoke. His rugged handsomeness was a reflection of who he was inside. The responsibility to protect was strong in him, and always would be. "Matt, do you miss being a lawman?"
He set down the form he was holding and turned to look at her. "Sure, in some ways. But that doesn't mean I wish I could go back to it, or that I think I'd be the best man for the job, at this point in my life. The life I want is the one I'm living. You know that, don't you Kitty?"
"Yes I do." She smiled and glanced up at the clock. "3:00, Matthew must be napping. I can't believe he'll be a year old tomorrow. I'm so glad Doc will be here." She fell silent and idly ran her tongue across her lower lip.
"Kitty, are you going to tell me what you've been thinking about so intently, for the past few days?"
"Actually, that's the main reason I came in here." She took one of his big calloused hands in both of her smaller, soft ones,"Matt, I'm not keeping secrets from you, and I never will, I promise. It's just that I wanted to find out some things, and see if my monthly came, before I talked about what I've been thinking." She scooted her chair closer to his. "Matt, I don't think I'm ever going to be pregnant again." She raised an eyebrow. "And we are pretty active in that department."
He smiled crookedly. "Seems we have a particular talent for it. Go on."
"Well." She took a deep breath. "I don't want Matthew to grow up as an only child. So, a couple of times this week, I stopped by the adoption house to ask some questions. Matt there are infants there who need good homes."
"Kitty, Matthew is just turning one, and we have two growing businesses to worry about, I'm not sure it's a great idea to add an infant to all that."
"Um - I'm not thinking about an infant, I'm thinking about two infants." Her eyes lit up with excitement. "Matt, beautiful twin girls just 3 days old. Their mother died in childbirth, and she never said who the father was. The people at the adoption house say it's hard to place one baby, placing twins is near impossible, and they'll likely grow up in the orphanage. Matt, we have so, so much love to give."
Her eyes were sparkling, her face aglow. His heart swelled. She'd just turned 40 and was more beautiful than ever. He tore his eyes from her radiant face and scratched the back of his neck. "Well Kitty, if we adopt twin girls, Matthew and I will always be outnumbered 3 to 2."
"Hmm, I guess I don't see the problem with that."
Laughing he stood up and took her hands. She let herself be pulled to her feet and leaned into his chest. He whispered in her ear. "Matthew will be up from his nap soon. Maybe, the three of us should head over to that adoption place."
Smiling she picked up her shoes. "I'll changed into comfortable clothes." Arms wrapped around each others waists they headed up the stairs. "You know Kitty, I'm gonna want to teach the girls to ride and fish, just like I plan to with Matthew."
"Good idea." Her smile broadened. Matt chuckled. "Seems Doc's in for a big surprise when we meet him at the train tomorrow."
"You bet, and since the babies don't have names yet, Doc will love helping with that." She stopped at top of the stairs and looked up at Matt."A year ago, when I was alone and having Matthew, I never dreamed a day like this was possible."
He bent over and tenderly kissed her lips. "I guess you never know."
The End.