I do not own the copyrights to Bonanza

Coming Clean

Authoress' note: This is an AU story NOT cannon as far as Captain Stoddard (in the show I believe he never remarried).

Charlotte's Arrival

Opening Scene

Have something for you. We need to talk. May I come. Charlotte

The telegram Ben had read to his sons, along with a confession Adam still had a grandmother still very much alive – even if it wasn't Elizabeth's mother- had stunned everyone.

"You really should hear Mrs. Stoddard out." Adam had picked up his hat. "It's too late for me to have any emotional connection to her as a grandmother, but it would be good for you two not to be at odds." Ben had agreed and yet still hesitated in sending the wire; nonetheless, the task was now completed and the only thing to do was to wait.

Scene one

Charlotte, a women whose hair had tenaciously hung onto it's dark color when others had -at the very least- streaks of gray, thanked the couple who had driven her out to the Ponderosa and watched them turn their buggy around and leave before knocking on the door. She was pretty sure her nerves had all been shook up in a bottle and thrown back into her body as her ears felt as if they had heart beats living in their canals.

"Hi, I'm Mrs. Stoddard, is Benjamin Cartwright home?" Charlotte asked who she figured had to be the one her late husband had called Hop Sing, for he was definitely not American by birth.

"No, he come shortly." Hop Sing waved her in, hiding his shock at how young she looked. "Sit, I get you some tea."

"Thank-you, but no thanks, I'm not a tea drinker." She smiled and asked politely if they had, by chance, fresh milk instead.

Her eyes turned away from Ben's cook when he headed into the kitchen. She then looked around the house. The wood was in excellent shape and the design shouted Adam had definitely had a hand in it; she may not have known that only her late husband had not exactly been quiet on the matter. She became so lost in thought any sound of a door opening was missed.

"Sorry, we got caught up with some cows, otherwise I'd have been back sooner." Ben's voice got her head turned back towards the door.

"It's okay." When asked what it was she wanted to give him, his late wife's stepmother handed over a large envelope. "This. I wanted to give it to you sooner, only...Abel...balked at me doing so while he was alive. Said you were a grown man who was living out his dreams, one who had no desire to have any connection to the east or to the sea."

Ben opened the envelope and was stunned to see paperwork making him legal owner of Abel Morgan Stoddard's home and business. He looked up confused and asked why she wasn't keeping ownership. "Abel was correct in saying I have no desire to be connected to the sea."

"I know." Charlotte let her shoulders slump. "But neither do I, not anymore." She gave a half-hearted smile. "I thought, maybe, you could sell the land and business and pour the funds into this ranch." The captain's widow suggested...if he wasn't interested...Ben could always sign the property over to Adam. "I doubt he'd want to live on the east coast…" Charlotte admitted. "But he could still make a profit with it."

"You'd do all this just to make peace with me?" Ben shook his head. "Isn't that going overboard?" His choice of words struck Charlotte as funny and she laughed- it only took a second for Ben to catch on and found himself grinning and shaking his finger at her. "That's not what I meant and you know it." He's just finished when Adam walked in, when he saw who was talking to his father, Ben's son offered to leave.

"That's up to your father." Charlotte gave a soft smile and looked over at Ben, and he told Adam it was up to him; his oldest sat down.

"So, what do we need to talk about?" Ben admitted that was what really got him to answer her telegram even though he'd still felt his guard up.

"The reason why …" Charlotte stopped and asked if Ben minded her calling his father-in-law, by his middle name. "I always liked the name and he didn't mind." Ben nodded and told her to go on. "Morgan and I really married."

Ben wasn't surprised to hear what Charlotte had just said. He'd always doubted what his father-law had insisted on, as had Elizabeth. However; neither one of them had been able to break through to what they'd felt was the truth.

"Fine by me." Benjamin uncrossed his arms. "But how about we do it after supper?" He spoke as Little Joe and Hoss walked in, along with Hop Sing setting the table.

"Fine by me."