"Breakfast was delicious as always Miss Colleen." Kat praised as she helped Brian clear away the dirty dishes. They brought the dirty dishes to Michaela who was scrubbing them clean with warm water. Mathew had eaten his breakfast much earlier than the others since Robert E had wanted his help with something in town. The oldest of the Cooper children came barreling into the house with a large crate in his hands.
"This came for you Dr. Mike." He announced. "I told Horace I'd bring it home."
"Who's it from?" Colleen asked excitedly.
"Don't know." Mathew shrugged. "But there's a letter that came with it." Dr. Mike dried her hands on the apron she had tied around her waist before accepting the letter from her son. She opened it carefully, but eagerly.
"Dear Michaela," She began to read aloud.
"Grandma!" Brian smiled. The letter must have come from Dr. Mike's mother who Kat had not yet met.
"Hope my correspondence finds you and the children in good health." Dr. Mike continued to read from her letter. "Please find enclosed a little something of civilization since you're obviously determined to remain as far away from it as humanly possible." How pleasant. Kat thought sarcastically as her friend continued reading. "I'd been saving this for your hope chest, however as your status as an unmarried woman seems unlikely to be changed in the foreseeable future, I've decided to send along a service for eight of your favorite Wedgewood china. In honor of..." Dr. Mike let her sentence trail off and she folded the letter back up. "Well, let's see!"
Mathew fetched a hammer and used it to pry open the create. Everyone gathered around the table excitedly as Dr. Mike plunged her hands into the crate. Expressions of dismay and pity echoed around the table as the chatter of broken china filled the room.
"Uh oh." Brian frowned. "It's all broken."
"This cup ain't broken." Kat pointed out. She plucked up the only piece of china that was still intact and handed to Michaela. Dr. Mike took the cup and frowned down at it.
"Excuse me." She managed to get out before walking out the front door. Brian chased after her wondering what's wrong.
"Gosh what was it in honor of?" Colleen asked.
"Maybe it's in the letter." Mathew suggested. Kat nodded with understanding before searching around for the letter.
"It's in honor of her thirty fifth birthday." She explained to the children. The three of them shared a meaningful look before joining Brian and Dr. Mike on the porch outside.
"Then why are you crying?" Brian was asking his adopted Ma. He really hated it when Dr. Mike cried.
"I'm crying because...well because sometimes...I just feel lonely." Michaela explained through her tears.
"Lonely?" Brian didn't understand. "How can you feel lonely? You got us." Without another word Brian flung his arms around Dr. Mike and pulled her into a hug.
"How indeed." Michaela whispered.
"Colleen, Brian why don't you go finish cleaning up breakfast?" Kat asked them. Both children did what they were told knowing that if they didn't do it right then they would have to do it later anyway. Mathew, who was old enough to know that Kat wanted a moment alone with Dr. Mike, mumbled something about feeding the horses before he disappeared from sight. Now that they were alone Kat leaned against the house with one foot up against the wall and her arms crossed.
"Shoot Doc, I didn't think you even knew how to cry." She laughed. "I don't mean to make light of your feelings 'course, but seeing you cry..." Her sentence trailed off and drover her point home with a low whistle.
"Its embarrassing." Michaela sniffed.
"Embarrassing?" Kat snorted. "Doc, it just means you're human like the rest of us! Everyone get's lonely once in awhile." She wagged her eyebrows at her friend suggestively. Dr. Mike couldn't help but laugh. She wasn't that sort of lonely at all, but she took Kathryn's intentions to heart. "I used to be an expert at lonely." Kat continued to share. "Ran away from anything and everyone who ever tried to be there for me. Now, Byron says he forgives me for it, but he's still watching me out of the corner of his eye, waiting for me to run off the first chance things get too tough. And Jake..." She sighed. A wistful look flickered in Kat's eyes as she remembered her old life in Colorado Springs. "Well I must have taken the old Jake Slicker with me when I ran out of town. He's there sometimes hiding behind the new Jake in his smile or a stolen look but boy does he hate me."
"It's hard to imagine Jake as anything other than hateful and crude." Dr. Mike confessed. Her tears seemed to be mostly dried by now.
"He was sweet, smart too. He never let no one else tell him how to think neither." Kat shook her head. "Suppose if I only knew him now, I'd have trouble thinking he was ever any different. But look Doc, if we gotta be lonely, you and me, at least we can be lonely together right?"
"I suppose that's one way of looking at it."Dr. Mike sighed. "I'll be fine." She assured her friend as she rose to her feet. "It's a simple case of the birthday blues."
"I'd get that check by a doctor, Doc." Kat joked, their heavier conversation dissipating.
"Fortunately, I know a very good one." Michaela smiled.
"We gotta do something to cheer Ma up!" Brian insisted as he walked through town with Colleen and Mathew.
"We could give her a birthday party?" Colleen suggested.
"It would have to be a surprise though. We're not even suppose to know." Mathew resolved.
"It's Ma's birthday?" Brian was confused again. He loved his birthday and didn't understand why something like that would make Dr. Mike sad.
"Now it's a secret Brian." Mathew warned his little brother. "You can't tell anyone."
"Except Miss Kathryn." Colleen interjected. "She already knows."
"Don't worry. I won't say nothing." Brian promised. Neither Colleen nor Mathew believed him. Brian was notorious for spilling secrets. The children walked over to Robert E's place where he was sharpening one of Sully's hunting knives. Sully was standing next to Robert E, inspecting the Blacksmith's work. "Hey Sully!" The youngest Cooper greeted him.
"Hey kids." Sully replied back, a half chewed piece of straw hung lazily from his mouth.
"Are you going to be around for the next couple of days?" Mathew tried to sound casual when he asked.
"I should be, why?"
"Cause it's Ma's birthday!" Brian informed him. Colleen gave her brother an angry look even though she was standing behind him and Mathew rolled his eyes. "Whoops." Brian realized his mistake too late. But Sully wasn't just anybody! He was real good at keeping secrets. He kept secrets for Cloud Dancing and the Cheyenne all the time. Besides Miss Kathryn already knew, so she'd probably tell him anyway. "It's a secret." Brian added. "don't tell nobody."
"We're trying to think of a good present for her." Mathew said. Sully was one of Dr. Mike's good friends, maybe he could help them come up with a good present.
"So, why don't you marry our Ma, and become our Pa?" Brian suggested. It made sense to him. He and Ma were good friends and Miss Kathryn was his sister who was also Dr. Mike's good friend. If Sully and Dr. Mike got married, everyone could be one big family.
"Brian!" Colleen scolded. Honestly she had no clue where her brother got his ideas from.
"Brian," Sully sighed. He crouched down low so he could look the boy in the eyes. Man to man, well Man to boy really. "It's not something you just do. It takes time."
"She's thirty five." Brian huffed. "She doesn't have a lot of time left."
"It's just that her mom sent her some stuff that was suppose to go in her hope chest." Mathew tried to explain where this was coming from.
"Hope chest?"
"Yeah." Mathew nodded. "And we started to think..."
"Wouldn't it be nice if she had somebody to share it with? Well besides us." Colleen clarified. "So, we're giving her a surprise party."
"You could dance with Ma." Brian thought.
"Well, I was planning on going out and checking my traps this week." Sully told them awkwardly. He took his now sharpened hunting knife and put it back in its sheath. "But I-I'll try to make it."
"Promise?" Brian questioned, suddenly excited.
"I said I'd try, Brian." sully snapped. Colleen and Mathew could tell he was getting annoyed with the boy's inappropriate questions.
"Don't you wanna be our Pa?" Brian asked sadly.
"Brian, you already got a Pa." Sully replied with a forced calm. "What I am, is your friend. And don't you forget that now. Thank's Robert E." He nodded politely to the blacksmith before walking off.
"Why'd you have to go and scare him like that?" Mathew reprimanded.
"Scare him?" Brian frowned. "Sully's not afraid of me, is he Robert E?" The Blacksmith chuckled.
"No, ah, that's not what he's scared of Brian." Robert E explained. "I ah...I believe when a man lives a certain way, like Sully, off by himself; it's hard for him to come back to something else. To someone else."
"Oh." Now Brian understood. Just like it was hard for him to get used to having a new Ma when his died, it would be hard for Sully to get used to having a new wife.
A/N: Thank you to snn7b, Kim and Michaela for you reviews of Chapter 10! I love reviews and I appreciate you taking time out of your day to leave them for me! I hope you guys enjoy this update! I'm hoping to have Chapter 12 out in a couple hours!