"Come on, Daddy," Andrew said. He had raced from the car at his typical breakneck pace, leaving the rest of the family behind. Kim had made Andrew wait at the foot of the stairs to the Brady house while she carried Jeannie. With Eve hovering over him, Shane had slowly and steadily brought up the rear.

Kim seemed to study Shane. "Are you okay? Do you need to rest for a minute?"

Shane had to shake his head. He was walking slowly, but was not winded. The last few weeks had shown some definite improvement in his condition. Even Marcus had been impressed by the changes since Shane's previous check-up. "I'm fine, Kim," he said, adding slyly to himself, I'm more than fine.

Once he reached the stairs, Andrew bolted to the front door of the house and rang the bell. Caroline opened the door just as Shane and Kim reached the top of the stairs. She gave the children and Kim big hugs and then, as they went into the living room, Caroline smiled at Shane.

"It's good to see you, Shane," she said.

"Thank you, Caroline." It took a moment for Shane to remember the last time he had seen her and then realized it was the night she had brought Stephanie to the house while Kim and Kayla were missing. Or had she and Shawn come to the hospital after he was shot? He could not really remember a lot of that time. It was a sobering thought. "I'm glad I can be here."

She reached out and pulled him into an embrace. "We never got a chance to thank you, but we owe you so much. We have our daughters here - and it's because of you."

"And Steve," Shane said, feeling a tad embarrassed.

"And Steve." That came from Shawn, who had approached from the kitchen. He held out his hand. "The last time we talked, I was pretty rough on you, lad, but that's all water under the bridge now. You hear me, son. No matter what, you are always part of this family."

Shane took Shawn's hand and shook it. For all of their conflicts over the past year, Shane had always valued the older man's opinion. "You have no idea how much that means to me," Shane said, sincerely.

Shawn nodded. "You mean a lot to us." He looked Shane over. "Looks like you need some of Caroline's good cooking to put some meat back on those bones."

Shane had to concede the point. He had lost weight while in the hospital and, between that and his physical therapy, was a bit leaner than he had been before the shooting. "Well, Simmons tries, but he can't hold a candle to Caroline's cooking." Shane grinned. "Just don't let him know I said that."

"So is this a private party in the doorway?" Kim asked. She had returned from the living room, having gotten the children settled. Shane looked over in their direction to see that Carly was holding Jeannie, while Andrew was teaming up with Max and Shawn Douglas in some kind of wrestling match with Bo.

"Perhaps I should save your brother from the Mongol horde," Shane said to her, but she laughed.

"Oh, I wouldn't bother. Bo's probably the biggest kid here." She pulled Shane toward the living room. "But I'm thinking you probably should sit down."

Shane grimaced. "I'm not an invalid, Kim."

"I know," she said. "I just don't want you pushing yourself too hard."

"Standing and talking to your folks is hardly pushing myself. . . ." At her raised eyebrow, he added, "At least right now it's not."

Seeing he was not going to win the argument, Shane let Kim lead him over to the sofa. He was no sooner seated than Eve appeared with a cup and saucer.

"I thought you'd appreciate some tea, Daddy."

He took the cup, but looked at both Kim and Eve. "I do appreciate it - both of you - but, stop, please. I don't need you hovering over me like two mother hens. Okay?"

Kim and Eve both flushed slightly, but Eve spoke first. "I. . . ." She seemed unsure of what to say to Shane, so she said, "Maybe I'll go see if Mrs. Brady needs any help in the kitchen."

"I'm sure she'd appreciate that," Kim replied. Once Eve had disappeared, Kim studied Shane. "You sure you're okay?"

"Yes," he said, knowing he sounded exasperated. "I'm just fine - or what passes for fine these days. I'm not going to collapse from exhaustion, I swear." Silently, he added, Not until much later tonight.

The doorbell rang again and they both looked up as Shawn opened the door for Eric, Sami, Marlena and Roman. There was another round of hugs at the door as they came in. Eric made a beeline to the boys, while Sami looked around the room, shrugged as if she were a little disappointed, and then headed in the direction of Carly and Jeannie.

"Jeannie's not as easy to order around as Stephanie," Kim whispered. "The 'not talking yet' is a slight obstacle."

"I could see how that would be an obstacle." Shane laughed. Sami did seem to have a way of wanting to be in charge - much like her father, he thought.

Before Kim could respond, Roman and Marlena approached them. Roman held out his arms and gave Kim a big hug. Letting her go, he gave Shane a sullen look, followed by a terse, "Donovan."

"Roman," Shane said. "Happy Thanksgiving."

Roman seemed to hesitate. "Uh . . . yeah . . . Happy Thanksgiving." Then he turned and headed toward Bo.

With a sigh, Kim looked at Marlena, who looked equally at a loss.

"It's okay," Shane said. "You can't expect him to forgive and forget so quickly."

"Yes, we can." Marlena shook her head. "It's not fair to the family that he's acting like this. You don't deserve it, and neither do John or Steve." She smiled at Shane. "Roman told me what you said to him-"

Shane spoke up quickly. "Marlena, if I'd known-"

"Stop," she said, cutting him off. "You had a terrible choice and I can't say I wouldn't have done the same if I were in your shoes. I lost my sister and if I ever had a chance to get Samantha back, nothing would have stopped me."

Shane understood. Even after Drew's betrayal, losing him again - not knowing where he was or even if he was still alive - left a void in Shane's life. But he still had regrets. "I still wish I'd seen through Nickerson. If I had, at least, I might have been able to ease your pain. . . . I knew how much pain you were in."

"We all have things we regret," Marlena said. "We make our choices, thinking they're for the best. I know you're an honorable man, and I also know how hard that must have been for you."

Across the room, Roman harrumphed. Although he was supposedly focused on Bo and the boys, he plainly was paying attention to the conversation between Marlena, Shane, and Kim. The sound caused Kim to scowl.

"I think it's time I gave my brother a little talking to," she said in a low voice.

Shane grabbed her hand. "No. . . . It's the holiday. This isn't the time or place for an argument."

"Okay," Kim said, though her scowl remained.

"Just give him some time," Shane said. "Once he gets to know us and gets more comfortable with being back, I'm sure things will smooth over."

Marlena sighed. "I wish, but the ISA's in his ear. Chief Tarrington was at the house the other day. I only heard a little, but I guess John's been helping you with something."

That hardly surprised Shane. Tarrington would continue to try to poison the well and cause trouble for Shane, but there was little anyone could do about it now. "Sooner or later, Tarrington will overplay his hand and Roman will see the truth, Marlena."

"I just hope it's sooner," Kim added just as Eve came over from the kitchen carrying a small platter.

"Mrs. Brady told me to bring these deviled eggs over here," Eve said to Shane. "She said we need to fatten you up a bit."

Shane rolled his eyes. "Three mother hens," he joked, but he took one of the eggs. Then something dawned on him. "Marlena . . . I'm not sure if you've met my daughter, Eve."

"We have met," Marlena said. "More in passing though - like on Halloween. I'm looking forward to getting to know you better, Eve."

Eve smiled. "Me too. I've heard so much about you over the years. Carrie and Frankie always spoke so highly about you."

Shawn walked up. "Speaking of Frankie, we just got a letter from him. Sounds like he's really making a difference in those villages in Africa." Shawn looked at Eve. "He asked about you. Said he was beginning to worry 'cause he hadn't heard from you."

Eve flushed and appeared rather uncomfortable. "I . . . I guess I do owe him a letter. Things have been so crazy since I got back." She looked quickly toward the kitchen, set the platter of eggs down on the coffee table, and said, "I'd better get back to helping Mrs. Brady."

As she raced off, Shawn turned to Shane. "I suspect Frankie isn't going to like the letter he gets."

"No," Shane said. "I suspect you're right."

Kim took Shawn's arm. "Don't be upset, Papa. They're both very young. Just kids, really."

"I suppose," Shawn said. "I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. They did seem to rush into things and Frankie was pretty broken up over Jennifer Horton at the time."

"As the good Bard said, 'The course of true love never did run smooth.'" Shane gave Kim a rueful grin. "But then I think all of us can attest to that."

Everyone chuckled and Marlena and Shawn headed off - Marlena to talk to Roman, Shawn to the kitchen. Kim took the moment to take a seat next to Shane on the couch. "Perhaps we all can attest to that, but remember that Shakespeare also said, 'All's well that ends well.'"

The full quote came unbidden to Shane's mind and he took Kim's hand in his. "'All's well that ends well; still the fine's the crown; Whate'er the course, the end is the renown.' It's true, isn't it? All that matters is that things turn out right in the end."

Kim smiled softly. "I couldn't have put it better myself."