"Welcome to Texas." Nick told Sara as they grabbed their luggage.

"It's a very nice airport." Sara joked.

"Very funny. Come on we'll go and see about renting a car."

"Nicholas." A woman yelled.

"I think she's calling you." Sara told him.

Nick turned around and broke into a smile.

"Maggie." Nick said as he hugged the woman. "What are you doing here?"

"Mom wanted to come and pick you up but she's sitting second chair on a case and there was a problem so she asked me to come and pick you up. Dad obviously won't be back until later tonight."

"The Dallas judicial system at work." He smiled.

Sara cleared her throat.

"Sorry." Nick apologised. "Sara my sister Megan. Maggie this is Sara."

"It's nice to meet you." Megan said.

"You too." She paused. "Just out of curiosity why does he call you Maggie if your name is Megan?"

"Emily and Heather were two when I was born and they couldn't say Megan, only Magan, it just evolved to Maggie and stuck." Maggie explained.

"They were both 2?"

"Emily and Heather are non-identical twins." Maggie told her. "Twins run in the family. Mom is a twin and Heather has identical twin six year old boys. I guess Nick didn't tell you that."

"No."

"Or that apart from Andy and Carrie there roughly a two year gap between each of the rest of us and the next."

"No."

"Did he mention the nieces and nephews?" Maggie inquired.

"Yes, complete with pictures."

"You'll probably confuse them they all look alike especially the younger ones. We should probably get nametags for Sunday." Maggie suggested.

"What's happening on Sunday?" Nick inquired.

"Mom and Dad are planning a big cook out. All the relatives and friends are coming it's the first time we've all be in together in a couple years. They're really looking forward to it."

"Now's the time to run screaming." Nick whispered into Sara's ear.

"Just stay near me." Sara told him.

"So Mags where are Lily and Matt?" Nick inquired.

"Gib's having a little bonding time with the kids; otherwise know as them running around the house screaming and him tearing his hair out. But hopefully they will have worn themselves out by the time I get home." Maggie replied. "Lily and Matthew are my two kids. Lily is 5 and Matt is 3. My husband is Gibson, he's a cop. I'll talk to Mom about those name tags."

"Welcome to Texas." Nick said as they stepped outside the airport taking a big deep breath.

"It's no Sin City but we like it." Maggie stated.

CSI CSI

Sara looked out the window and drove to the ranch on which the Stokes family house was located.

"Wow this place is huge." Sara declared when they got out the car.

"You need somewhere to fit seven kids." Maggie said.

"Dad had three bathrooms added, so we could get out of the house at a reasonable time of the morning." Nick added.

"He still spent quite a lot of time in there." Maggie said.

"It was a good place to hide you girls." Nick stated.

"And to spend two hours making sure his hair was right. I should get home; it was nice to have met you Sara."

"You too."

"Nick tell Mom I'll call her tomorrow." Maggie said.

"I'll will. Night Mags."

"Good night."

"So this is where you grew up?" Sara said.

"Yes. There's the barn, and the stables. Mom and Dad own several thousand acres, all though rent most of it out. Carrie and Leland have a house that way, Becky and Clint live over there. Andy and Erin live have a place over that way. My grandparents have a small place behind the main house. Maggie and Gibson and Heather live in town and Emily and Jack live just outside Houston."

"Wow."

"Don't worry you get used to it." Nick squeezed her hand.

"And your Dad is on the Texas Supreme court."

"Which is based in Austin."

"Must be some commute."

"He usually catches an early flight to Austin on Monday mornings, stays over at a small apartment he has there, and catches a flight back here on Friday nights." Nick explained.

"Your parents didn't think about moving to Austin?" Sara asked.

"They did for a couple of days after Dad got appointed, but most of the family is here. Mom has been a public defender in Dallas for her whole career; this works out well for them. It's only about an hour's flight or about a 3 hour drive. It works for them."

TBC