The afternoon sun beat down on the desert landscape, as the passing scenery began to transform from what Micky called "big, boring rocks and dirt" to more greenery in the form of trees and plots of crops. Mike slowed the car as he made a wide turn into a dirt drive. The Pontiac shook as it ran over the slats of the cattle grid, then sped down the driveway, leaving a dust cloud in its wake. It wasn't long before a red barn came into sight, then a little green farmhouse. Squinting at the house, Mike parked the car and had a better look.

"Somethin' seems off," he muttered, scratching his head.

Sugar peered out the car window. She shook her head in a full double-take, as a smile crept across her face. "She built onto the house! Mike, she's usin' her oil money!" Bouncing in her seat, Shug grabbed Peter in a hug and cheered. "Aw, this is the best thing that coulda happened to her."

"Right now, the best thing for me is to get out of this car." Micky groaned and stretched, cracking his backbone. "I can't feel my legs, man. I think someone stole them." He narrowed his eyes at the middle passenger seat. "...Pretty sure it was Davy."

"Huh-wha?" Davy cracked an eyelid, then pulled his jacket back over his head. "Wake me when we're there, right?"

Mike snatched the windbreaker from Davy's hands. "Welcome to Texas, Tiny."

"I can't wait to see how the old place looks on the inside now," Sugar said as she hurried out of the car, running toward the house. "I wonder if she kept my room th' same..." She was almost to the porch when she stopped in her tracks and turned toward Mike. The look on her face was pained. "She's not gonna have any idea who I am."

Mike's shoulders slumped and he gave his sister a pat on the back, his hand lingering there a moment, as though trying to hold her steady. "C'mon, she'll be glad to meet you. You're family."

"Not the family she knows," Shug replied, voice low. "You don't just show up an' drop a new, full-grown sibling on someone. 'Hi Kate, this is mah long-lost sister!' Yeah, that's gonna go over just great." She scrunched her nose and trudged back toward the Pontiac, pushing past the other three boys and climbing into the back seat as before.

Mike raised his arms toward her, then sighed and dropped them again, hands hitting his thighs. "Now, Shug, be reasonable—"

"Michael, is that you?"

The boy's ears perked up at the muffled voice. His attention went straight to the front door; his face was absolutely beaming as the top half of the divided door opened. "Hi, Aunt Kate!"

Kate's eyes boggled and she drew her hand to her mouth, so great was her surprise. She hurriedly unlatched the bottom half of the door and ran toward her nephew, seizing him in a hug. "Mike, what are you doin' out here?" She stood back from him and, still holding onto his arms, tsked and shook her head in disapproval. "You've lost weight, honey. Are you sure they're feedin' you out there in California?"

Mike blushed and shrugged out of his aunt's grip. "It's nothin' to worry about, Kate. I may have had to cut back on the biscuits," he said with a laugh.

"It's good seein' you, anyway." Kate smiled. She looked past him, sighting Micky, Peter and Davy. Incredulous, she playfully smacked her nephew in the arm. "And you dragged all your poor little friends out here, too?" Hands on her hips, she addressed the group. "And you let him bring you out here in the middle of nowhere?"

"Family always travels together," Peter chirped happily.

Kate's eyes focused beyond her nephew and his friends. "What in th' world is that?" she asked, first pointing at the car before walking past Mike to get a closer look. Half-folding her arms, she put a hand to her cheek. "Merciful heavens, Michael. That's not the car I gave you, is it?"

Mike slouched, cheeks burning as they turned nearly the same color as the Monkeemobile. He shuffled his feet in the dirt path in front of the house. "I might have made a few...modifications."

The older woman rolled her eyes. "Explains the golf cart you boys used last time." She ran a hand alongside the vehicle, examining it as she circled. "At least it's a nice shade of red. I'll give it that." As she made her way around the car, she peered into the windows.

Mike saw his aunt suddenly stiffen and jump back a step. She didn't stop there, however. Kate flung the car door open, inadvertently unrolling a scrunched up pile of blankets equipped with long, thin legs. The heap of fabric scrambled around on the ground a moment, before a human head emerged, face obscured by unruly, dark hair.

"She, uh, she found Shug," Micky said, shrugging. Mike covered his face with both hands and groaned.

Sugar shook her head and pulled her hair out of her face before smiling at the woman standing over her. "Um... Hi." She twiddled her fingers in a shy wave.

Kate threw both hands on her hips, head snapping toward her nephew and his friends. "You boys in the habit of hidin' strange women in your car?"

"Uh, well, that's...That's..." Mike pointed and stammered in an attempt to force out some passable excuse. Damage control usually came easy to him, almost second nature considering the vast array of strange happenings for which he had to account on a regular basis, but for some reason his knack for such a thing was failing him in the face of family. "She's—"

"Peter's girlfriend," Sugar interrupted as she struggled to her feet. She straightened out her shirt and held a hand toward Kate, smiling. "It's nice to...ah...meet you, Aunt Kate. I'm Sugar."

"Sugar," Kate repeated, raising an eyebrow. Not once did she hold out her hand in return. "Hmm. The accent says Texas, but th' lack of manners says big city. I don't a'cotton to strangers gettin' that familiar with me right off th' bat, so callin' me Mrs. Nesmith will be just fine, thank you."

As the smile faded from Shug's face, Mike felt his own heart slide into his stomach. He knew she felt the same, just by looking at her. Heartsick.

In seemingly no time, Kate's attention was turned toward her younger relative and she made her way back to the house. "Why didn't you call ahead this time, Michael? Lucy an' I have got plans to go out of town in a couple days."

Mike fidgeted, yanking his hat off his head and picking at the pom on top. Call ahead? He was supposed to call ahead? "I might've overlooked that little detail," he coughed. As rotten as he felt right then, he still forced a grin, though it faltered spectacularly. "Surprise?"

Kate gave her head a shake and let her eyes roll. "They're nice boys, Mike, but they're gonna ruin you yet, I swear." Smiling, she gave him a pat on the cheek. "C'mon, y'all get your things and I'll show you 'round the place. Things've changed since you were here last time!"

Pulling his hat back onto his head, Mike cast a glance at Sugar, who was seated in the dirt, her back against the car and her head propped on her knees. She shuddered and Peter was quickly by her side with both arms around her. Mike originally had found himself very dubious about the tales of twins' shared feelings, although now, he was having second thoughts. Maybe thirds.

"Things have changed for us, too, Aunt Kate," he sighed. "You just don't know how much."

The Nesmith ranch was Mike's childhood home. The last time he had visited, the house was faded and worn, but Kate had always done her best to handle its upkeep after Uncle Jack passed. Since the discovery of crude on the property, Kate had come into a considerable amount of money and judging by the size of the addition to the house, she had put it to good use. He marveled at the extra bedrooms, as well as the sewing room he remembered his aunt had always wanted. While things were certainly spacious, Mike was glad to see that it still felt like "home". It wasn't flashy or fancy, but really more an extension of the old country farm house itself. He was sure Jack would have liked it.

"You'll still have to share rooms," Kate said as she led the group down the hall. "I didn't account for quite that much company at once." She stopped midway, first gesturing to her left, then to her right. "Mike, you and Micky can take this room. Peter and Lil' Davy can have this one."

Davy wrinkled his nose, freezing in his tracks. "Lil'?"

Peter gave him a playful pat on the head. "Maybe you can sleep in the dresser drawer."

"Ha ha. No."

Mike gritted his teeth and swallowed hard. "What about Shug? Where's she gonna sleep?"

"She can stay with me and Davy!" Peter beamed.

"Not so fast, mister," Kate scolded. "I intend to keep things respectable in this house. Sugar can stay with Clara." She moved down the hall to the next bedroom and knocked on the door. It opened slightly, revealing a freckle-faced girl with an upturned nose. She adjusted her glasses and peered first at Kate, then at the group standing behind her.

The girl's eyes brightened and she threw the door open completely. "Mike, is that you?"

"Clara!" Mike swept her into a hug, then flipped her ponytail as he set her back down. "How've you been, kiddo? How's studyin'?"

She tugged at her hair and scuffed a shoe against the floorboards. "Aw, it's alright. Still got a ways to go, but Doc says I'm on the right track. One of th' best students he's had!" She smiled, making her buck teeth terribly apparent.

"Good job, Lil' Bit!" Mike felt extremely proud of his cousin. It had been years since he had seen her, the last time being just before he first left for California. Any time he had made it back to the ranch, Clara was always gone, always busy. Seeing her happy and successful meant a lot. "You're gonna make a fine vet." He turned to his friends, craning his neck to see past Micky's hair. "Shug, did you hear—Hey, where's Sugar?"

All eyes were on Peter who looked incredibly uncomfortable. "She... She said she wanted to stay outside. Clear her head and get some air."

There was so much about the ranch that was the same, yet so much that was different. Sugar ran her hands along the fence rails, fingertips recalling the feel of the wood and memories of balancing on them with her cousins. Of course, that was in another lifetime, which made her recollections somewhat bittersweet.

She meandered to the barn and couldn't help smiling. It still looked exactly the same as it did when she was still small enough to hide in the hay bales in the loft. She wondered if she could still shimmy up the ladder or if her legs would end up tangled. Shrugging, she wrapped her hands around the sides of the ladder and carefully set a foot on the first rung.

So far, so good. One more rung. Then another.

"Hey! What're you doing up there?" a young, yet frantic voice squeaked.

Shug's foot slipped, going between the rungs and she floundered in midair a moment before finally giving up and dangling upside-down from the barn ladder. As she attempted to right herself, her eyes met those of a sandy-haired kid, who couldn't have been more than twelve or thirteen. He squinted at her, wrinkling his freckled nose.

"Whatcha doin'?"

"Listenin' to all th' blood rush to mah head," Sugar responded, a slight edge to her voice. "What're you doin' sneakin' up on people like that?"

The boy huffed and crossed his arms. "What's the idea sneakin' into Miss Kate's barn?"

"Well, I'll have you know," Shug said, clumsily grabbing at the ladder, "that I'm family and I used to climb around in this barn all th' time when I was little." She was upright for a moment before the one leg latched around the rung gave out and she fell into the dirt below.

The tension in the air was suddenly pierced by a round of giggles from the young boy.

"Thanks a lot, kid," Sugar snarled angrily. "You really know how to make a feller feel at home." She dusted off her shirt, then glanced up to find that the kid was extending a hand toward her.

"I'm Mikey," he said, beaming. "I'm Miss Kate's help for the summer."

Sugar's anger dissipated and she took hold of the boy's hand as he helped her to her feet. "Mikey, huh? That's a nice name. I'm Sugar."

Mikey's lips curled up, smile widening. His gaze was firmly fixed on Sugar's face, as though he was studying her, reading her. A little unnerved, Shug quirked an eyebrow and returned the expression, albeit a bit more comically. "What's that look all about, kiddo?"

The boy shrugged, hands in his pockets. "You just remind me of someone I met once. Nice guy."

"A guy?" Shug was taken aback. She did her best to ignore the emotional gut-punch; after all, Mikey was just a kid and rarely did kids that age have filters. She playfully ruffled the boy's hair and forced a faint grin. "If that's the case, I'd rather be a Texas prairie chicken."

The little blond gaped up at the older woman. His smile returned and he snickered.

"Shug? You out here?" Sugar recognized her brother's voice calling from the far end of the fence row. Once she spied him, she waved and he picked up the pace, joining her and her new friend. "What're you doin' hidin' in the barn? You oughta go see your cousins." He paused and held a hand out to the younger boy. "Sorry, I forgot my manners. Hi there!"

"This is Mikey," Sugar said, relaxing at last. "He's Aunt Kate's summer help."

Mike laughed and leaned back, hands on his hips. "Mikey, huh? My name's Mike, too. Nice to know ya."

Standing between the two Nesmiths, Mikey kept looking back and forth at them—First at Sugar, then at Mike. His face brightened noticeably and the wave of giggles returned. "Landsakes," he tittered, "you two are the spittin' image of each other!"

Mike's eyebrows knitted together in curious frustration. "That kinda happens with twins," he offered. "Ain't no reason to get all tickled about it."

Wiping the tears from his eyes, the younger boy made an attempt to regain his composure. "Sorry, sorry, sorry... You're just...surprising is all." Still between them, he took a hand in each of his and began dragging them toward the back of the house. "I like you guys. C'mon, you gotta meet everyone else."

Mikey led the twins along what looked like newer fence. Within it were roughly a half-dozen goats and amid them stood Clara, with a small calico goat happily bouncing around her feet. Shug stopped in her tracks at the sight of her cousin. She spied the grin on Mike's face as they neared the goat pen.

"Clara's on her way to bein' a vet," he said proudly. "Got a good future ahead of her." He loosened himself from Mikey's grip and shoved both hands in his pockets.

"I remember she was off studyin' last time we were here." Sugar gave Mikey's hand an involuntary squeeze. "I'm afraid to talk to her. ...What if she's like Kate?"

Mikey let go of Sugar's hand and gave her a shove toward the gate. "How're you gonna know if you don't say somethin' to her?" He climbed on top of the fence railings, tumbling down the opposite side. "Ask her about her goats or somethin'!"

"Goats..." She had barely made it through the gate when the little calico goat made a run at her. It scuffled to a halt in front of Sugar's feet, sniffing her. It snorted and shook its head, then began dancing around her and bleating. Sugar had a basic understanding of chickens and cows, but goats were something new to her. She stood perfectly still, not sure what to expect from the little creature, which finally propped its head against her knee, then looked up again and made another noise at her.

"She likes you!" Clara called happily from her position amid the rest of the tiny herd. She knelt slightly, holding out her hand. "C'mon, Barbara! Let your new friend walk, okay?"

Much to Sugar's surprise, the little goat nodded, circled her feet again, then bounded back to cousin Clara, who cuddled her much like one would a pet dog. "Um... She's really friendly, your little goat there."

"Barbara's a good judge of character," Clara said, smiling happily. "If Babs likes someone, they can't possibly be bad." She approached Sugar, hand extended. "Clara Nesmith."

Shug fumbled a moment. Palms sweating, she quickly wiped them on her jeans before returning the gesture. She had to take her time responding, lest her own mouth betray her out of pure nervousness. "My friends call me Sugar."

Clara raised an eyebrow. "Sugar, huh? Nice meetin' ya."

"What kinda name is Sugar?" another voice called—female, Texan and a touch on the shrill side.

Kate's voice quickly followed. "Lucille Lynne Nesmith, where are your manners?"

Clara and Sugar's attention was drawn toward the back porch, where the other two Nesmith women had gathered with the other three Monkees. Cousin Lucy seemed irritated, which was par for the course, as Shug remembered.

Mike sidled up next to his sister. "You know how Lucy feels about city folk," he said quietly.

"Merciful heavens," both girls chimed, almost in unison. They gawked at each other a minute or two, then Clara's face brightened.

"Well, I ain't got any qualms about city folk," the buck-toothed girl laughed. "I guess you don't either, huh?"

"I live with a house full of 'em," Sugar smiled. "I ain't got much choice but to like 'em." For only a fleeting couple of seconds, she was sure she saw a glimpse of recognition in Clara's eyes. It vanished just as fast as it had appeared, but was replaced only by a sort of friendly warmth. The ice was broken, so maybe she could make a little stronger effort. "Um... Mike tells me you're a vet?"

"I'm workin' on it!" Clara beamed. She stooped to pet Barbara, who had settled by her side. The little goat stood, tail wagging in excitement. "I figured with as much as I love my animals, it'd be a good thing to help them, 'specially since they can't speak for themselves."

"MYA-AH!"

Clara laughed. "And then there's Barbara, who would talk up a storm if she could." She allowed the goat to climb into her arms, then stood again, cuddling the horned creature. "C'mon, I'll give you th' grand tour."

"Meep!"

"With added commentary by a pigmy goat," Shug snickered. She gave Barbara a good scratch between her horns before following Clara to the house. She got as far as two steps before something tugged at her. She turned to find Mikey holding onto the hem of her shirt. His freckles seemed to double as his cheeks rounded into a grin. He motioned for Shug to move closer; her height required her to bend down in order to do so.

Cupping a hand to Sugar's ear, Mikey whispered, "See? I knew you guys would get along."

Shug straightened and smiled, ruffling the kid's hair before catching up with Clara.