Walt drove up to the house but didn't go in; he walked around the back instead. The house had four bedrooms plus a servant suite for Charlotte and her granddaughter, who helped with the twins, if they needed to sleep over. It was huge compared to his cabin but kids take up a lot of room. Jacob was serious about his art. Sometimes he could work in chaos and sometimes he needed quiet. It also took up a lot of space and made a mess so he had a separate studio built last summer. He was at the water station cleaning brushes. Walt knocked on the glass door. Jacob looked up and nodded him in.

"Am I interrupting?"

"No, I'm finished for the day. I have dad duty in an hour."

"This won't take long."

"Beer?"

"Sure."

"Get me one, too."

They sat down with cans of Rainier which Jacob stocked in the small fridge.

Walt took a swig and looked down, turning the can in his hands. "So, Vic is pregnant." He looked up.

Jacob nodded. "We've been wondering when you'd tell us."

"You knew?"

"Suspected. At the twins' birthday last week."

"She's four months now and can't hide it much longer."

"Everything all right?"

"Yep. Doctor says it's a boy and everything's fine."

"Congratulations, Walt. You're going to have a son after all. Cady must not know yet or she would have called me."

"Vic's telling her right about now."

"You mind me asking if this was planned or unplanned?"

"Planned."

"By both of you or by Vic?"

Walt smiled. "It was Vic's idea but I didn't object."

"Cady wondered if she'd want to try again after the miscarriage."

"It's Cady's and your fault."

"Baby fever?"

Walt nodded. "She started thinking about it when Cady said she was pregnant. Pretty soon after the twins got here she wanted to try."

"Is she going to be careful?"

"She's announcing it at the office this afternoon and taking desk duty."

"She going to keep working after he's born?"

"Unless she changes her mind but I don't see that happening."

"It's a dangerous job."

"It can be but it's been pretty quiet the last few years since the county got cleaned up."

"Any plans to get married?"

"I asked and she said yes but she won't set a date yet."

"What's she waiting for?"

"She'll probably decide in the delivery room and we'll have to get the hospital chaplain to marry us between contractions."

"That sounds about right." Jacob paused. "Cady will be a big sister at thirty-two and your grandchildren will be older than their uncle."

"Don't leave yourself out. You'll have a brother-in-law."

"Does Henry know?"

"I went to the casino before I stopped here. He's pleased."

"Maybe he'll find a woman and have a baby. One of our kids could marry his."

"I'm really happy for Dad and Vic," Cady said, "but it feels weird to think of having a baby brother at my age."

"He'll probably be more like a nephew," Jacob suggested. "He and the twins will grow up together like cousins."

"Do you ever regret having a vasectomy?"

"No. It was my idea and we agreed two was enough. Have you changed your mind?"

"Nope. I love our children beyond belief but I don't think I could handle any more. And I like not having to deal with birth control. Makes it more spontaneous." Cady straddled Jacob. "Like this."

"The Tribal Council met with me. They want to display a couple of my pieces in the gallery at the casino hotel. And they asked me to teach an art class at the rez school."

"Are you going to do it?"

"I am. Remember I told you there would be a way for me to contribute again."

"Will there be any conflict with the native crafts classes?"

Jacob shook his head. "Painting doesn't infringe on weaving or pottery making. It's good for the kids to have options."

"There are others who have been in prison but they often don't do well afterward. You may be a role model."

"I already was as a successful businessman and I blew that. I may be more of a cautionary tale now."

"I think it will be good for them to see that it's possible to start over and do something completely different. People don't have to be locked onto one path in life."

Jacob's first class went as well as could be expected. They all knew who he was and he knew most of them. He asked how many enjoyed drawing or painting; only a few hands were raised. He asked how many had tried it; the same hands went up and there was some laughter. He told them they wouldn't be drawing or painting immediately, that the first two classes would be an introduction to fine arts. He allowed ten minutes at the end for questions.

"How did you get good at stuff like the casino and painting?"

"It remains to be seen how good I am since I failed at both."

More laughter but he could tell that the kids didn't really believe him.

"I failed at being an artist more than twenty years ago. Or at least I gave it up easily when other opportunities came along. I was successful in business for many years. I built Four Arrows Casino. And then I went to prison. Not a stellar record."

They were interested now. They hadn't thought of it that way. Prison itself wasn't much of a factor to these kids. Too many of their people had spent time behind bars for them to judge him.

"I'm no longer involved with the Casino; I'm no longer a partner in several businesses; and I'm no longer on the Board of other businesses. Art was really the only thing left. We'll see how it goes."

More laughter. Maybe amusing high school students was his niche.

"You ever paint naked people?"

Jacob smiled. He had actually expected that to be the first question. It was from a boy.

"First let's get the terms right. When a student draws or paints naked people they're called life models. When an artist does it they're called nudes. And yes, I've drawn and painted life models and nudes."

"How much does it pay?" A girl this time.

"Life models are generally paid twenty to thirty dollars an hour for a three-hour session posing for a class. Nudes are usually paid more and pose for a single artist for longer periods. That might sound like good money but you earn it. You have to hold a pose from five to twenty minutes while standing or bending. Sitting or lying down you may have to stay still for an hour."

"Who do you use?"

"My wife most recently. She was bored and complained a lot. On the other hand, she worked cheap. I didn't pay her."

More laughter. Jacob made a mental note to tell Cady he threw her under the bus in order to get a laugh from his class.

Jacob felt he had come full circle. He had tried before to be an artist but it hadn't worked out. He had moved on to other things but the wheel of life kept turning and he was back where he started, hopefully with the wisdom to do better this time. And incentive in the form of Cady, Neon and Nova.

The classes became a combination of drawing, painting and art history. Kids who went on to college often took electives in art or art history even if they were majoring in another subject. Professors and classmates were impressed that they had been taught by Jacob Nighthorse.

As a gift for her first Mother's Day, Jacob had assembled the individual sketches of Cady's body but each piece was separated from the others: hands, arms, feet, legs, breasts, belly, back, buttocks, neck, hair, and face. Each was a drawing with fine details. Still Wife in Pieces became one of Jacob's most famous works. Despite being reluctant to display her pregnant belly and erect nipples to the public, Cady eventually loaned it to museums all over the world. When it wasn't on loan it often hung in the casino hotel gallery.

She and Jacob had both come full circle, Cady thought, with each other and in their relations with the reservation. Jacob had long been an important figure to his people. She understood that they had felt betrayed but she was disappointed that they had turned on him so quickly after he had done so much. She didn't blame them for their change of attitude to her. Their history with white people had been dreadful and though their first experience with her had been positive, there hadn't been enough good will to overcome natural suspicion of her motives when she got caught up in a teacher's kidnapping of a sick boy years before. Since then the rez had learned what she had done for Drew Snowhawk and the legal aid center even when she was no longer part of it. Trust had been rebuilt.

Her professional life was in order and her personal life was even better. She and Jacob had been together for more than two years. Neon and Nova were healthy toddlers, walking and talking and an endless source of joy. She didn't expect life to be smooth forever but this period of peace had been so welcome after what seemed like years of drama and trauma.

Outsiders can never really understand a relationship or marriage. Cady had seen the changes in Jacob in his private and public selves. Sometimes she wished everyone could know the hidden man but overall she was glad that that part of him was reserved only for her.