Summary: Eden Farley wanted to prove to the world that she could be like every other man that walked the earth. But no one had ever given her the chance. Until her brother gets killed and no one's left to take his place in family tradition. Except for her. The only problem is convincing her mother that she's not the little girl her mother always wanted her to be.

Dedication:For David, a United States Airmen, off to serve his country in South Korea. You will always be my hero.

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Prologue

1931

"Gumpa?" a small voice called out from the doorway.

Harold Farley looked over the edge of his newspaper towards the doorway, where his six year old granddaughter stood. She was dressed in a set of blue pajamas with trains on them, a hand-me-down from her older brother. Her curly, dark chocolate colored hair was braided to the side with a pink ribbon and her honey colored eyes watched him. A teddy bear was clutched in one of her small hands and the other rested on the doorway hesitantly.

"Yes, doll?" he asked as he set his paper down on the coffee table and took off his reading glasses.

The small girl looked uncertain and shy as she bounced from one foot to another. "Will you tell me a story?"

Her grandfather looked at her and thought for a moment. "Isn't it past your bedtime, Eddi?" he asked. A small grin graced his face as Eden looked sadden, as she thought that he was going to send her straight to bed. "Your mother will murder me if she knew you were up this late. And for a story, no less."

"That's okay, Gundpa," Eden's head drooped and she turned to walk away, her teddy bear cleaning the floor as she walked. "Goodnight."

"But!" her grandfather called after her, causing her to stop in mid-step and whip around to look at him with a hopeful smile.

"What she doesn't know won't hurt her," Harold said, a twinkle evident in his eye was he patted his knee and Eden raced over to him.

"Thank you!" She jumped onto the worn, rust colored couch and sat herself on his lap.

"So, a story?" he asked once Eden was done with her squirming and was looking up at him with her wide eyes in admiration. She nodded her head fervently, the braid of her hair bouncing off her back lightly.

"Well," he began. Eden listened intently the entire time as he told her of his days spent in BMT for the Army. She gasped and nodded her head in agreement when the story called for it. Soon, however, her eyelids began to droop and she snuggled closer to her grandfather as he continued with his story.

"And that is why I will never again be able to look at tuna fish and fabric softener the same way again," he said finishing his tale only five minutes later. Harold looked down to find the young girl fast asleep on his lap.

He gave a small sigh and shook his head in amusement. Carefully he gathered Eden in his arms and walked down the hall to her room that she shared with her older brother, Weston. He managed to nudge the door open with the toe of his brown work boot and gently laid Eden down on the twin bed across the room from a sleeping Weston. Harold bent down and gave her a small kiss on the brow and pulled to covers over Eden before turning to walk out of the room.

Standing in the door frame was his own daughter, Meg. She gave him a look and a sigh escaped her lips. Her hands were on her hip as she pushed herself off the frame and waited for her father to enter into the hall. Harold gave her a sheepish shrug and closed the door behind him.

"She wanted a story," he said simply.

Meg's curls bounced as she shook her head. "You can't keep doing this to her, Dad," she said in a forceful whisper.

Her father gave her a confused look. "Do what, darling? All I did was tell her a bedtime story."

"That's exactly it!" she said louder. Both adults didn't notice as the door to Eden's room opened slightly. "You have to stop filling her head with nonsense!"

"Nonsense?" Harold asked, starting to get angered. "I was telling her of my days spent serving this country! I hardly see how that can be considered nonsense, young lady!" He stood up to his full height, but Meg didn't seem at all phased that he was playing the 'dad-card' in hopes of making his point understood.

"You can't be getting her hopes up, Dad. We both know that she'll never be like you, Dennis, or Weston! It isn't possible. You know that. And you telling her stories every night about your 'glory days' will only hurt her in the end. Please," Meg said pleadingly, "I don't want to see my little girl's heart broken."

Harold gave a resigned sigh and nodded his head. "Fine," he said, "But let me just warn you of this, Meg," he looked at his daughter with hard emotion in his gray eyes, a shaking finger pointed at her. "If you continue to stomp onto your daughter's every hope and dream, then you will be the one breaking her heart. Not someone else." He gave her one last look before walking down the hall and closed the door to his room quietly.

Meg gave a tired sigh and wrapped her faded robe around her tighter before following the same path as her father and soon the door to her room closed with a soft click. The sounds of the bed squeaking as she settled herself into it echoed around the house. Soon, the lights in her room went dark.

A few seconds later the door to Eden's room closed softly with a click and she climbed into bed. She looked over to the other bed to see that West had managed to sleep through the fight. Staring at the ceiling with her arms beneath her head, Eden made a silent promise to herself. She would never let anyone get in the way of her dreams. No one.