The Davenport house was tense and silent that night. Tasha made them all a quick snack then insisted they go to bed. Donald had wanted to lock Douglas up in the cell for the night, but Tasha put her foot down. Douglas was given the guest room and strict orders not to try anything funny.
The next morning he was still there, which said a lot. Donald had been half expecting him to escape in the night.
Tasha called a meeting over breakfast that morning. She had made pancakes, which was her way of getting everyone in a good mood to talk.
"Something needs to change, obviously," she said to start off her speech. "I won't have this family be torn apart in such a violent way."
"Too late," snapped Douglas. But she sent him a violent look, and he refocused on his pancakes.
"We need to find a way to work together to make this family whole again."
"I hope you're not suggesting we add him back into the family circle," said Donald, sending his brother a flare across the table.
"I am," said Tasha. "Now listen." She took a deep breath, then continued.
"My life, before I married you, Donald, was not a good one. Besides my wonderful son, I had very little to live for. Now I have a wonderful husband, and three more wonderful children." She took another breath, then spoke again. "I love you all dearly, and I know having a family has made me whole in a way I could never be if something hadn't changed. My life before..I would never want to go back to that. I think everyone needs a place to be, and I think that should be this place."
"You want us to just let Douglas back in without questions and just pretend he's not a crazy sociopath who tried to kill us all?"
"Yes Donald, I do." Tasha's look said she was not up to debate.
"Douglas did save me," said Adam suddenly. "He saved me, I wouldn't be here without him, I wouldn't be who I am without Mr. Davenport, and I wouldn't have the family I have without the additions of Tasha and Leo."
"We all need each other," said Bree contemplatively. "I know that now."
"Maybe we can find a way to make this work," said Chase.
"Come on Big D, give it a chance," said Leo.
Donald looked again at his brother, then sighed. "Fine, I suppose we can try something. We'll make it work somehow, family always does."
"There's one more thing we need to do," said Adam. Everyone looked at him expectantly. Adam cleared his throat, and this time looked at Douglas. "You found me and rescued me from my family."
"I did."
"But you made a mistake. You left my brother behind. Lenny. I need to find him."
Douglas nodded. "I can help you get him back."
Adam nodded. "I want to make him part of our family too."
"We will find him, Adam," said Donald. "We will find him, and we'll add him to our family. It will be a family circle like never before."
"I can't wait to meet my new son," said Tasha, smiling.
Adam grinned at her. He finally found a place he could be strong, and he could be himself. And he loved it.
Bree finally found a place she was important, a place where people p[aid attention to her and knew when she was missing.
Chase finally found a place where he was intelligent, where his thoughts were appreciated.
Douglas and Donald finally found a way to work out their brother problems. Leo finally found a family willing to work through problems with him, who made him one of them.
And Tasha finally found herself a big family that she could love and take care of.
A/N-Yay! So they all get to be happy now! I'm not sure how I feel about this story, since I started it then took such a break, then I felt I sort of wrapped it up rather quickly since I forgot where I was going with it originally. o_o. BUT, I am happy that I got to write it and finally got around to finishing it. And I am so happy that all of you read it and enjoyed it! I'm not sure it's my strongest work, but I'm glad it's out there. Hope you all had fun reading it and discovering the Lab Rats' hidden past with me! Review to let me know what you thought about the overall story/arc and writing style. And have a great upcoming weekend everyone! 6 weeks to summer vacay! I can't wait!