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Chapter Three

Instead of answering her father directly, Kitty cast a pleading eye at Matt. "I'll go check on her," she said anxiously.

"I can get her if you're still fixing lunch, Kitty."

"No, Matt, thanks. She probably needs changing, and she's been a little colicky lately." Matt raised his eyebrows at this; it was news to him. "I'll have to see how she's feeling, first, if you gentlemen will excuse me. Everything's on the table, you can start without me." With that, Kitty turned and walked up the stairs. Matt stood and watched her and, after a moment, he turned to Chester and their guest. "Excuse me, I'll be right back. You two go ahead." He motioned toward the kitchen and followed his wife up the stairs.

Kitty was bent over the cradle, changing Maddy's diaper and cooing at her softly. "You're growing so fast, you won't fit in this cradle much longer. And your daddy worked so hard on it for you. Maybe we'll have to give you a little brother or sister so it won't have to stay empty too long."

"Is that a fact?" She hadn't even heard Matt come up the stairs.

"Just talk," she said, a little embarrassed to have been caught expressing her wishful thinking out loud. "Matt? I assume Chester's keeping an eye on the valuables while we're both up here?" They shared a look, knowing there was nothing more valuable than what they had in that room with them.

Matt rested his hands on his hips, looking at his two girls. "Kitty, I know how you feel, but did you think you were going to be able to hide her from your father the whole time he's here?"

"Of course not. I was just hoping I could figure out what he was doing here before we told him about her. Would you get me a clean dress for her?"

Matt opened the top drawer of Maddy's bureau and looked around, pulling out a blue dress with lace trim. "This one all right?"

"Fine. Thank you."

Matt took Kitty the dress and put his arm around her. "Honey, you're shaking! Listen, if you're afraid of your father I can send him on his way without ever seeing Maddy."

"I'm not, really, Matt. I guess it wouldn't be right to keep them apart. I'm not out to punish him. And Maddy should meet her grandfather, even if…even if she's too little to remember." Kitty looked away and struggled to blink back tears. He'd left her mother when she was still too little to remember him. She turned to face Matt, the dress still in her hands. "Oh, Matt, why did he have to just show up here without letting me know first? Ever since he got here I've been like that scared kid waiting at the stage depot for a man I don't even know, hoping he'll like me! I don't like feeling this way!"

"I know, Kitty." Matt put both hands on her shoulders to steady her. "Let's finish getting Maddy ready and we'll go down and introduce them together, all right?"

"Sure." Kitty turned her attention back to the baby and quickly put the dress over the squirming infant's head before she had a chance to protest. She picked up a pair of socks that were lying next to Maddy.

"She'll hate that," Matt warned. They had rarely bothered putting anything on her feet during the summer, it had been so hot, and it was still warm enough that she didn't really need them.

"I know, but she needs to dress up a little for company." Kitty looked down at her calico dress.

"Now, don't start that. You look beautiful, and besides, he's already seen you in it."

"Well, I guess if you're going to drop in unannounced you can't expect too much," Kitty conceded. She deftly worked the socks onto Maddy's feet despite her lack of cooperation. "As for you, young lady, I want you looking your best the first time you meet your grandp—your Grandfather Russell." As far as she was concerned, her children would only have one grandpa, and his name was Adams. "Now your hair…." She quickly arranged Maddy's short but abundant curls to her liking and decided she was presentable.

Joe had joined Chester and Wayne by the time the Dillons returned to the kitchen. Chester and Joe were busily putting away copious amounts of the meal Kitty had prepared. Her father sipped at a cup of coffee and appeared to be waiting until his hosts arrived.

"You run the risk of going hungry around here if you let Chester and Joe get ahead of you," Matt said from the doorway, getting their attention. All three looked up.

"Oh, now, Mister Dillon," Chester laughed nervously in between bites. Russell stood, taking in the sight of his daughter with her husband's hand on her shoulder, and the baby she held in her arms. Kitty looked up at Matt, smiling, and as he watched her proudly, she approached her father with confidence in her step. The look she gave him was gentle but unwavering and she said softly, "Father, this is your granddaughter. Madeleine Rebecca."

"Madeleine," Russell said hoarsely. He couldn't look away from her insistent gaze. "You named her for your mother."

"She's named after both grandmothers," Kitty responded, not letting her voice betray the mixed emotions she was feeling.

"Certainly. That's most fitting." Russell nodded in approval. He held his hands toward Maddy. "May I?"

Kitty hesitated for only a moment before gently placing her child in her grandfather's arms. She spent several moments arranging her in the crook of his arm, making sure he was holding her securely. Suddenly Matt was standing behind her, pulling out the chair next to Russell's. "Sit down, Kitty," he said in her ear. He pressed on her shoulders lightly; guiding her into the chair, then took a seat across the table where he could look at all three of them. He and Kitty watched Wayne hold Madeleine awkwardly, an expression of pride on his face as he looked down at her. The baby looked back at him and gurgled happily, waving her arms and kicking.

"She's a beautiful little girl," he pronounced, and Matt wondered if he was taking credit for that personally. "She looks just as you did when you were that-how old is she, Kitty?"

"Five months," Kitty answered, and shared a look across the table with Matt. Did he really remember how Kitty looked as a baby after so much time?

TBC