Sometimes, there are moments in our lives which make us question what we know to be true.

And because what we know to be true makes us who we are, these periods of doubt can test us to the core. How we respond to them, shows the world what we are really made of.

For twenty year old Will Regan, this moment came as he caught his unconscious mother in his arms. Her limp body weighing heavily against his tall, thin frame caused him to slightly stumble. He heard his own voice cry out in panic and bark out an order for someone to call for help. He heard Diana Belden's gasp, saw her eyes grow wide at his command, and watched her frantically trying to dial 9-1-1 with trembling fingers. He felt his own shaking arms lift his mother and place her gently on the couch. It was all too surreal to be fully understood. He remembered praying harder than he'd ever prayed before and feeling completely helpless and terrified. Never had he seen Hallie Regan this vulnerable. His parents had always seemed indestructible to him. Never had he felt such pressure to do the right thing. And later, when he learned that a mistake had been made by the EMS crew who transported Hallie to the hospital in White Plains, Will experienced more guilt than he had ever known before. He wondered if he should have waited for his mother to wake up from her temporary shock before making the decision to call for an ambulance. She might never have had the heart palpitations that hospitalized her if it hadn't been for the wrong combination of medicines she received in transit.

And yet, despite the way he blamed himself, Will also knew that his parents were proud of him for taking charge of his siblings and running the family horse ranch during the days his mother was sick. He kept everything, and everyone, on track. His father, Bill, had pulled him aside and praised him in such a way that the young man thought he could have sprouted wings and flown through the air. His father's approval meant everything to him.

But, still - he felt guilty.

And he knew Di felt guilty, too.

Maybe, I should talk with her about it, Will thought to himself a few days later.

He decided that he should ride out to the old Lynch Estate where Mart and Di now lived, but he had to make a delivery of hay out to Bobby at the gamekeeper's cabin first. When he got there, Will discovered that his mother's cousin had posted a sign on the cabin door which read, "Out Back."

The dark haired young man shook his head and laughed to himself.

I wish I had a nickel for every hour that man has spent out in the greenhouse, he mused.

However, he was surprised when he found Bobby's older brother Mart in the greenhouse, too. Will had always assumed that Mart was more of a supervisor in their joint projects, so he found it odd to walk in on the older man with his arms buried up to the elbows in a pile of organic potting soil mixed with manure.

"Um, Mart, that stuff looks a little…"

"What? Gross?" Mart gave the young man a wide grin and wriggled his messy gloves at his second cousin. "Yeah…it is…but plants sure love it. What are you up to, Will? How's your mom today?"

Will noticed that Bobby had also stopped working and was listening intently to learn about Hallie's health.

"I talked to her on the phone this morning, and she sounded fine. I think she's still a little tired, but that's probably normal. She's glad to be home. I'm just grateful she doesn't have any actual heart issues. We all thought she was having a heart attack for sure. At least, that's what it looked like."

"Hallie's a tough old girl," Bobby said with a laugh, "she'll outlive us all. Everything's going to be alright, now."

Something in the confidence of the blonde's tone comforted Will. He knew he shouldn't worry so much, even though to be protective was a big part of his personality. He realized that it was a trait he'd inherited from his mother.

"I…I'm sure you're right," Will conceded.

"And, what about your dad? I'll bet he's ready to strangle those paramedics, huh?" Mart finished his planting, slipped his grimy gloves off onto a potter's cart, and crossed to stand in front of the tall young man.

"Well…Daniel and I did have to…sort of…talk him down a bit when the doctors first told him what had happened. You know, my dad does have a tendency to…um…get a little angry at times."

The loud burst of laughter that followed Will's nervous confession took the young man by surprise.

Why is that so funny? He wondered.

"Oh Will…we're sorry….we aren't laughing…at you…it's just… it's just…" Bobby couldn't finish his thought for doubling over in breathless gales.

"It's just the way you said it…" Mart finished for his brother. "Casually saying that Regan gets 'a little angry at times' is like saying that our mother is an okay cook…or…or…saying that I'm just a little bit profuse."

Despite understanding what Mart meant about Aunt Helen, Will didn't know what profuse meant, and he also didn't see why his understatement had been so hilarious. The whole thing made him feel self-conscious around the two scientists. He knew that Mart and Bobby were both brilliant, and having them laugh at something he said intimidated him greatly.

I guess it went over my head, Will thought bitterly.

He suddenly began to think about all the times he felt ignorant around his younger brother and sister, too. For Daniel and Fiona, school and learning had always been easy. But, for Will, it was a struggle. Like his father, he was good with his hands, could build or fix just about anything, and he understood horses better than he understood people. Unfortunately, he just wasn't very good with reading or writing. Complicated social nuances often left him in the dark, as well. He was a doer, not a thinker. Of course, he wasn't stupid; still, he always feared that others would learn about his difficulties with language and think he was somewhat slow. He tried to offset his weaknesses by being a hard worker and taking on mature responsibilities. It was a personal struggle he hadn't really shared with anyone else except his parents and his girlfriend.

Sensing Will's discomfort, Bobby quickly fought off his laughter for a moment and moved to make the young man feel more at ease.

"Will…I'm sorry. You have to understand, we…we were having some other emotional moments out here. You know, before you came. What you said was funny on top of that. We didn't mean any disrespect to you or your dad. Honest."

The familiar goofiness of the brothers set Will's mind at ease, and he decided not to let his insecurities stop him from doing what he came there to do.

"It's okay. I understand. Look, Poppa and I picked up some fresh hay today, so I brought you some for your horse. I'll go put it in your barn."

"Thanks, Will. You know, I appreciate all the work you do. I can't remember if the groom Mr. Wheeler had on staff after your dad left had ever once brought me hay. You're the best."

Despite the sappy nature of Bobby's words, Will couldn't help but feel proud of himself. He knew that he had been going over and above what was expected of him, and it was nice that others noticed. He felt himself blushing as he started back to the greenhouse door.

Suddenly, he stopped.

Bobby's little girl, Angelica, was standing in the doorway with a look of terror on her tiny face. She was ghostly pale and trembling.

"Jelly Bean?" Mart asked from behind Will. "What's wrong, baby?"

"I think...sompin's wrong… with…Mama…"

The four year old's soft voice was barely audible, but Bobby heard it well enough to immediately tear off his apron and gardening gloves and get halfway out the door by the end of his daughter's statement.

"Will, take 'Gelica," he ordered in a shaky voice, pushing his child to the young man as he ran past the preschooler and sprinted towards the cabin. He began calling his wife's name and praying in a panicked cry.

"Isabella? Oh God, please help her. Bella?"

It all seemed to happen in a blur.

Standing in the door frame of the greenhouse, Will felt his legs grow weak with fear, but he forced himself to stay calm for the sake of the small girl now clinging to him and looking up into his face with wide, wet eyes. He did not want to make another rash decision that could hurt someone.

"Angelica, sweetheart," Mart began in a slow attempt at sounding collected, "what happened?"

The little girl turned in Will's arms and gave her uncle a frightened stare.

"Mommy wented in the bathroom and I heard her making funny noises. It sounded like the cat when he choked on some fish bones. I knocked on the door, but she wouldn't say nothing. She had it shut tight and the knob won't turn…I can't get in… and she won't say nothing…"

As the child succumbed to her sobbing, Will pulled her tighter. It reminded him of holding his frightened sister at the hospital while the alarms on his mother's heart monitors were sounding and lighting up like the Fourth of July. The same churning of his stomach returned, and he was afraid that he wasn't strong enough to protect Angelica from being scared for her mother.

Both Will and Mart then jolted at the sound of a heavy impact coming from inside the cabin.

"Oh my God," Mart said quickly, "he's trying to break down the bathroom door."

The older man flew out of the glass building to aid his brother.

"Bob, don't!" He shouted.

It was as if Mart knew Isabella wasn't in any real danger, and the thought confused Will.

If she's choking, why shouldn't he break in and help her? The young man pondered.

Half out of morbid curiosity and half because he was literally being pulled across the yard by the little girl who had just wriggled down out of his arms, Will walked in a dazed motion toward the cabin.

He stopped at the front door, which was standing wide open, and he blocked Angelica from going inside.

"Let's wait on the porch," he said quietly. He almost expected the feisty child to argue with him, but with timid steps, Angelica moved slowly to comply with his request. She climbed awkwardly onto the porch swing and sat so still she looked like tiny glass doll.

"Angelica," he said gently, "everything is going to be alright. Don't be scared, okay?"

Blonde curls bobbed up and down as she gave a slight nod in response. Her brave face made Will's heart even more desperate to help her. He thought of everything he'd wished others had told him while he had been trying to keep a stiff upper lip for his siblings at the hospital. He'd encouraged Daniel that it was okay to cry if he'd wanted, but he hadn't allowed himself the privilege. On the outside, Will knew everyone thought he had things under control, but it wasn't what it looked like. He was terrified. Even more than he'd been when Daniel had been injured earlier in the year. Suddenly, he knew what to say to the little girl before him.

"Jelly Belly," he stepped closer to her but didn't sit beside her, "you know that this isn't your fault, right?"

He'd struck a nerve, and he knew it. The child's face squinted up with brand new tears.

"But I couldn't get in! I shoulda helped her when she was makin' those funny noises, but I wasn't strong enough to open the door! It is my fault!" In the middle of anguished sobs, Angelica slammed her chubby little fists down on her legs, which ironically made only soft padding noises against her pink corduroy britches. "She might be dead, and it's all my fault."

That did it. Will couldn't watch this anymore. He quickly closed the space between them, scooped up the little girl, and sat down with her in his lap. He didn't even stop the tear that had escaped his own eye and was now rolling down his cheek.

"Oh, 'Gelica, that's not true," he soothed. "You came and got help. You did everything right. Please don't blame yourself. Your Mommy's going to be just fine. Come on, you're a very smart little girl, you know. Don't you think if this was something really bad your Daddy and Uncle Marty would have already come out here by now? Or, we would have heard them if they'd been in the living room calling for an ambulance or something. I promise. Everything is going to be alright."

As he finished his last sentence, Will looked up and noticed that Mart had appeared in the open doorway to the log cabin. He seemed oddly calm and was smiling at them.

"Hey guys, everything is just fine." He extended his hand out to encourage Angelica to come to him and take it. "Come on, Jelly Bean, your Mama wants to talk to you."

Needing no second invitation, Angelica jumped from Will's lap and ran to her uncle. It was the first time Will felt he could breathe properly since he'd first seen the child out in the greenhouse.

Shyly, he followed the older man and his niece into the darkened cabin, slowly pulling the door closed behind him. But, he stopped when he realized that the figures in front of him were going down the hallway toward the back bedroom. Although while growing up he'd visited this house often, Will could count on one hand the times he'd ever gone to the bathroom at the end of that hall, and he didn't think he'd ever seen either of the bedrooms back there. He didn't want to intrude, so he quietly stepped aside as if he were going to sit down on the sofa in the living room.

But Mart had other ideas.

After ushering Angelica into the bedroom in front of him, the older man stepped back to the hall to motion for Will to join them.

It caught the young man off guard. However, he didn't want to be rude, either. Fearing what he might discover, Will slowly made his way down the corridor to where Mart had disappeared through another door.

It was a surprisingly sweet scene that awaited him.

Isabella was propped in a large bed with old fashioned quilts strewn over her legs. Her beautiful face was pale, but it radiated with something soft that Will couldn't quite place. She certainly didn't look frightened. Angelica was sitting on the bed beside her mother with their hands clasped together, and Bobby was in the same position on Isabella's other side.

The woman in the bed beamed up at the two men who had just entered the room, flashed another smile at her daughter, then shook the child's hand playfully in hers, and gave a small chuckle.

"How would you like to be a big sister, 'Gelica?" She asked breathlessly.

"You mean, right now?" The girl's eyes grew wide and a huge smile broke out across her face.

"Oh no, sweetheart, not today," her father corrected quickly. "It wouldn't be until after Christmas; after your birthday, even. Why, it's probably going to be close to Easter before the baby comes. It's growing in Mama's tummy. That's why she was a little sick today. But don't worry, everything is fine. You'll see."

Will took in a sharp gulp of air at the realization of what was going on in front of him.

"Yippee!" Angelica cried. "God answered my prayers! I told him I wanted a little sister, and he got me one!"

"Whoa, now, nobody said anything about the baby being a girl," Isabella interjected gently. "It could be a boy, you know."

The immediate frown of killjoy on Angelica's face made Will and Mart both giggle from the doorway.

"Could we take him back and 'schange him for a girl when he comes?" Angelica asked hopefully.

Again, the adults in the room burst into fits of laughter.

"I don't think God makes exchanges, darling," Mart said lovingly. "And that's a good thing, too. Your Uncle Brian and I would have exchanged your Aunt Trixie in a heartbeat."

The warmth that accompanied the laughter in the room at that moment suddenly made Will's wounded heart feel stronger. Isabella wasn't hurt, she was just pregnant. His own mother wasn't having heart problems, she had just had a scary reaction to some medications. All was right with his world again. Relief flooded his soul. He no longer felt so guilty and traumatized by the events of the past few days.

And then, another odd thought struck Will. In Bobby's frenzy to get to Isabella, he had actually prayed to God. It hadn't registered in Will's brain until that moment, and the comfort that came with the realization was enough to make the young man feel almost giddy with excitement.

Bob Belden, Mr. Atheist himself, actually prayed to God. And meant it.

Will couldn't stop staring at the scene before him and feeling awe at what God had done to heal him and Bobby both.

And Will wasn't the only one who had noticed the gamekeeper's recent change of faith.

Mart was also amazed at his brother's uncharacteristic prayer. It made him want to know what sort of magic had been in Dan Mangan's final message to Bobby. Whatever it was, it had changed him completely.

As the beautiful little family in front of Mart and Will began excitedly discussing their coming addition, Mart began to remember a time in the past when he had witnessed another frightened husband in his family begging God to spare his wife while a precious new child was being brought into the world, and plans for a rather untraditional birth were also in the making…