Present Day:

"So…are you saying we can expect to see him as a permanent part of your life in the future?"

Katie Frayne blushed at the young woman sitting across from her and nervously twisted a strawberry-blonde strand of hair around her slender finger.

"I'm saying we've talked a little bit about jewelry and such…" Katie responded coyly.

"Oooh, this is so exciting!" Candace McLeod burst out with wide eyes. "Do your parents know?"

"Hey, slow down!" Katie interjected quickly. "We're just talking about it, right now. I'm not expecting him to pop the question next week or anything."

"Maybe not, but if you've already got a ring in mind…I'm just saying…Christmas is only a month or so away." Candace winked and gave her boyfriend's cousin a playful swipe on the arm.

"Sheesh. Not so loud. My whole family is here." Katie feigned embarrassment.

The dramatic woman looked around the Ten Acres dining hall suspiciously and then gave Candace a friendly wink of her own.

"Yeah, and that would make quite a Thanksgiving announcement, wouldn't it?" Candace teased once more, but quietly this time.

"Especially since they all know Ryan so well. His father's a lawyer, too, and he's done a lot of work for my grandparents – on my dad's side. Will and I grew up with Ryan. Honestly, Candace, I don't think I've had a chance to tell everyone yet that we've been seeing each other. We aren't anything alike. I'm sure it'll be a shock for some of my family that we're even dating." She giggled. "I can't imagine how flipped out some of them would be if he ever asked me to marry him."

"But…you've talked about it…so…maybe…" The younger woman flashed another jovial grin.

"And so have you and Will, I'm sure," Katie shot back with raised eyebrows.

It was Candace's turn to sneak a look around and lower her voice.

"Well…yeah, but…you know it won't happen anytime soon for us," she said, her tone growing more serious. "I've still got two more years of college, and Will just got out on his own…we're taking our time."

Katie could sense that Candace was really in love with Will, and the thought warmed her heart.

"But, one day…you never know…" Katie drawled out the end of her taunt, and the two women laughed together happily. "You, too, could become a permanent member of this wild and crazy family."

With a wide, sweeping gesture, Katie swung her arms out to motion toward the massive throngs of her family members socializing and preparing for the annual Thanksgiving dinner they have always shared together at Ten Acres Academy. (It was the only place with enough tables to hold them all).

"Oh, yes," Candace replied with a soft smile, "And I would be honored."

"Hey, B.B.," Doctor Brian Belden suddenly appeared and tapped Katie gently on the shoulder, "Have you seen Maddie?"

"Ah, Uncle Brian, I think I saw her going into the kitchen with Emmie. But, that was a while ago." She smiled at Candace and lifted her palm to indicate the younger woman's presence. "You know Will's girlfriend Candace, don't you?"

"Yes, certainly. How nice to see you again," the older man said politely. He reached across the table and shook Candace's hand warmly.

"Thank you. I appreciate being invited to your family's Thanksgiving dinner."

Katie was pleased that Will had found a girl who could be both personable and polished, without ever being fake. She smiled up at her uncle and made her thoughts known.

"It's the first of many Thanksgivings she'll share with us, I hope," she said with a wag of her eyebrows.

"I couldn't agree more." Brian smiled. He turned away, giving a courteous wave, and then headed in the direction of the busy kitchen to find his daughter.

"What was that name he called you?" Candace asked shyly as soon as Brian was out of earshot.

"B.B. It's sort of a nickname." Katie blushed. "It means 'Bobwhite baby.' See, I was the first child born to any of the Bobwhites."

"Aw…how cute!"

"Yeah, I guess so. Katie is also sort of a nickname. Since my real name is Katje. How about you? Do you have a nickname?"

"Ug! yes. I have two older brothers, so my parents have always called me cute little girly nicknames. The most obvious is 'Candy', of course. And, then there's 'Princess' and 'Baby.' Stuff like that. Pretty embarrassing, actually."

"Nah. Sounds sweet."

"I haven't heard anyone call Will by a nickname, yet. Does he have one?" Candace asked, changing the subject.

"Sure. I think everyone has a nickname in this family. Most everyone calls Will 'Slim.' Because he's always been so darn skinny and tall." Katie laughed. "But, he's starting to fill out some the older he gets."

It was Candace's turn to blush.

"I think he looks just fine," she giggled.

Once more, Katie was thankful that Will had such a nice girl in his life. The two oldest "Bobwhite babies" had always been close, and Katie knew things about her second cousin that not many other people in their family knew about him. About how he was so internally self-conscious and sensitive that he always second-guessed himself. About how he put up a front of maturity and responsibility, but he was secretly afraid of failure.

Katie could tell that Candace loved Will for who he was on the inside, and that was good enough for her.

He better hold on to this one, she thought to herself.

"And, I guess your little sister's nickname is just as obvious as 'Candy', huh? 'Emmie' comes from the name Emily, right?" Candace's questions brought Katie out of her thoughts.

"Hm? Oh, yes. That's right. The name Emmie just seems to fit her better. It sounds as cute as she is, anyway."

"She is cute." Candace agreed. "Especially in those funny pumpkin pants she's wearing."

Katie covered her face with her hands and tried to stifle the explosive laughter that was pouring out of her mouth in an unladylike way.

"Aren't they horrible?" She asked under her breath. "My mom tried to talk her out of wearing them. Halloween is over, after all. But, you just can't always reason with Emmie. When my little cousin Angelica wears goofy stuff like that, it's okay. I mean, she's four. But Emmie's ten." Katie sighed and shook her head. "Heaven help us when my sister's sixteen and still dresses like that."

Candace bit her lip and leaned forward to speak in a voice of hush confidence.

"I know Will worries about how difficult life will be for Emmie when she's older. With her being autistic…and…not being able to really socialize very well and all. I'm sure you must worry about her, too."

I knew I liked this one, Katie thought. She gets it.

"Of course I do. And, it's funny that you should mention that, because Ryan and I were just talking about it a few days ago. I told him it was a good thing Emmie likes him. If we ever got serious enough to get married, he needed to know that she would most likely become our responsibility one day. I hate to say it, but my parents aren't going to be around forever, and Emmie will always need someone to look after her."

"And…is he…okay with that?" Candace seemed shy in asking such personal questions.

Katie felt her heart soar with love for the young man they were discussing.

"Yes," she replied with growing emotion. "He said he wouldn't have it any other way. And I know, he meant it, too."

As if they had known each other forever, the two women shared a knowing glance, and Katie was suddenly struck with the idea that she and Candace had now formed a strange sort of bond with one another.

The younger woman pushed a caramel colored curl back from her face and flashed Katie a bright smile.

"And you can be sure that Will and I wouldn't let you take on the responsibility of Emily alone," she said kindly. "I mean…that is…if I were lucky enough to be a permanent part of his future."

"You mean, if we're lucky enough." Kate returned the smile and the two women shared another friendly laugh.

"Oh boy, I hear the giggling of gossiping females," Daniel Regan's voice came from behind the two ladies as he and his girlfriend Ashley approached their table slowly. "The two of you must be up to something fun. May we join you?"

"Certainly," Katie jumped up to pull out a chair for her limping cousin. But, Daniel motioned for Ashley to take the seat, instead. The young girl hesitated and then took it with a gracious smile.

He's such a gentleman, Katie thought to herself.

She still wasn't used to seeing the handsome teenager walking so awkwardly. Despite the warmth of the family gathering, a slight chill ran through her as she considered how miraculous it was that Daniel could even walk at all. His leg had been crushed by a poacher's trap in the spring, and it had taken him this long to just regain enough use to walk without a cane. He was slow and limped a lot, but he was walking. And that was more than many of his doctors had expected, considering the massive amounts of damage that had been done to his lower leg.

"I was just learning about all the nicknames in your family." Candace said to Daniel. "I'm sure Ashley is as curious as I am. Can you tell me some more of them?"

"Hmm. Let's see. You know Will is 'Slim,' right?"

Candace nodded and laughed. "I think it's perfect."

"Well, Brian is 'Doc,' Mart is 'Einstein,' and Cousin Trixie has so many nicknames I wouldn't even know where to start."

"That's true," Katie chimed in. "Dad calls Mom 'Shamus,' Regan calls her 'Freckles,' and Uncle Mart calls her his 'almost' twin."

"I'm sure she has more, but we're just not remembering them all." Daniel laughed.

"What about your mom, Daniel?" Ashley asked curiously. Katie noticed that the pale girl had a hauntingly beautiful face underneath the odd stubble of dirty blonde hair that was defiantly trying to re-grow on her head after being lost to chemotherapy for her Leukemia.

"She's the 'Indian Princess.'" Daniel replied with a grin. "But my dad likes to say that her Indian name is 'Frowning Wife.'"

Everyone giggled.

"And, what about Mart and Diana's twins? They sure look like Indian princesses."

Katie gazed at Laura and Lydia who were standing on the other side of the room with Daniel's younger sister Fiona.

"They are very different from one another." Katie replied to Candace's question by way of explanation. "See, Laura is 'Motormouth' because she never shuts up, and Lydia is 'Miss. Lonelyheart' because she cares about everyone's problems."

"That's funny," Ashley giggled.

"Aunt Honey's name is already a nickname," Katie continued on, "because her real name is Madeleine. Just like her daughter Maddie. Her son Nick stutters when he's nervous, so we call him 'Porky Pig,' and her son Matt thinks he's God's gift to women, so he's 'Beefcake.' I think Uncle Mart started that one."

"I think your Uncle Mart starts most of them." Daniel chuckled. "He calls my dad 'Big Red,' he calls Fiona 'Fi Fi,' and he's the one that got everyone else calling little Angelica 'Jelly Bean,' 'Jelly Belly,' and 'Jelly Donut.' That poor kid is going to have a complex about sweets when she grows up."

Again, everyone laughed.

"What about you? What's your nickname, Daniel?" Candace questioned.

Katie was afraid someone was going to ask that. She held her breath, but she was surprised when Daniel didn't even flinch.

"I'm 'Speedy Gonzales.' You know, like the little mouse on the cartoons. I was a monster fast runner. I went to the state level in track my freshman year. The speed came in handy on the gridiron, too. I thought it was gonna land me a football scholarship for sure…"

Candace gasped.

"Oh, I'm so sorry…I didn't mean to…I didn't realize…"

"It's okay, Candace," Daniel said soothingly. "It really doesn't bother me." He took Ashley's hand in his, gave her a special smile, and then turned back to his brother's girlfriend. "I've accepted the fact that I'll never run again. It's okay. Really."

Katie could tell that Candace was kicking herself mentally, so she quickly changed the subject.

"But, I hear that your riding therapy group has really taken off at breakneck speed, Daniel. Tell me more about it. It's called HEART, right?"

"Yep, and that's exactly what it is. My heart." He gave his girlfriend another smile. "To see these kids find something they can be happy about again…to look forward to…it's just…just…"

He was so overcome with emotion that his eyes glistened and his chest heaved with excitement.

The sight of it made Katie's own heart do a flip.

"Wow! You're really passionate about it," Katie smiled.

"You bet. And, this is just the start. There are other ranches in the Hudson Bay area that have agreed to host chapters of HEART, and I've been asked to help get them started. It's something I'm really good at."

Katie noticed the way Ashley beamed as she looked at Daniel.

"I haven't found anything you're not good at," she said to him proudly.

"Aw! How sweet!" Katie teased them with a good-natured clap of her hands.

"Hey, the more I learn about my real dad, the more I figure I've gotta have a few skills. It sounds like he was pretty good at a lot of different things, too. Or maybe everyone just thinks so because they choose to remember him that way."

"No," Katie said gently, "I get the same impression about Dan. Too many people in Sleepyside, and not just those in our family either, have said he was multi-talented. He must have been a very special person."

Daniel tilted his head and gave Candace a friendly smile.

"Did I confuse you just then when I talked about my 'real' dad?"

"Um…not exactly. Your brother sort of…explained the whole thing to me. I…think what your mom did was…very beautiful…and…brave, actually." She gave a sympathetic glance to Ashley who had nodded in agreement with her.

"Yes. I think so, too." Daniel murmured softly. "And, honestly…Ash and I…well…we…I mean…I…I…understand why my folks did it."

He gave Ashley a long look which told Katie that the two of them must have been discussing Daniel's biological father a lot lately.

Oh, how frightening the thought must be for them, Katie thought. Is she scared she might die, too? If she's had enough chemotherapy to lose her hair, then she probably can't have children either.

Katie suddenly wondered whether Daniel's relationship with Ashley was a good thing or bad.

As if she could read the young woman's mind, Ashley surprised Katie by voicing her ponderings aloud.

"Look, I'm not as sick as Daniel's dad was. I mean, this last round of chemo was purely a 'just in case' sort of thing. I'm in remission now, and my numbers are actually getting good. So, I don't worry about dying young. Many kids survive Leukemia from the stage I was in when it was discovered. But…still…if there was any sort of way I could have kids of my own someday…which, I can't…but, if I could…well…" She fiddled with the table cloth in front of her timidly as a heated blush crept over her pale face. "What I mean is…I think Daniel's dad would have been proud, and…he would have understood why his mom did it, too."

That was all Katie needed to hear.

She couldn't stop herself from reaching over and wrapping a sisterly arm around Ashley.

"I just love this one, Danny," she laughed.

Then, without releasing the painfully thin girl, she hung her other arm around Candace's shoulder.

"And, this one, too!"

After giving them each a special squeeze on the shoulder, she stood up and raised a plastic cup of punch in the air.

"Girls," she said with her own personal, dramatic flair.

"Welcome to the family!"

Meanwhile….a few tables away….